The queen of the fake left, Katherine Murphy, may be stuck in woke ideology, but she is also pragmatic enough to know when it is losing:
Labor is transiting from a point in the political zeitgeist when voters were more aspirational. Voters sought a new kind of politics, they voted for it in May 2022, and then they rewarded a new government for focusing on the future rather than cosplaying relentlessly on the nightly news.
But materialism trumps aspiration at the moment for entirely legitimate reasons. Voters are preoccupied with managing in the here and now. Everyone is battening down the hatches.
Skating by on the vibe of the thing is over for this government.
But is it all this innocent, Katherine?
The mood has been poisoned by Anthony Albanese, who lured voters into believing that he would:
- deliver lower immigration and higher wages;
- address climate change;
- lift governance, most notably for women, and
- keep a hard line on China.
Instead, the Albanese government has:
- crashed wages and dehoused youth with wildly out-of-control immigration;
- done nothing on climate change, as well as let energy cartels unleash inflation,
- fallen straight into cronyism and
- grovelled to China.
What Albo didn’t say before the election is that while he was betraying his entire platform, he would blow a smokescreen with a referendum that addresses the concerns of a total of 1% of the polity.
I wouldn’t describe the swing in mood as away from “aspiration”. I would call it growing revulsion and anger at a PM whose word isn’t worth spit:
Feeding into such pessimism is an angry electoral mood. Voters do not want to hear about the voice. Market research has persuaded some private sector advertisers to hold off on campaigns because consumers are so angry about cost of living and a government focus on things they don’t care about, particularly the voice and AUKUS.
Labor researchers have similar data. Labor national secretary Paul Erickson in February told the parliamentary party that voters want to talk and hear about only one thing: the cost of living.
This is an invidious position for Albanese. He is the only political leader with enough profile to advocate for the voice but he drives his own opinion poll ratings down each time he does and may also be damaging the voice.
Sadly, Voice is the first victim of Albo’s disgrace:
It won’t be the last.
