Time to Test Albo

The unofficial election campaign has kicked off and the guns are blazing.

I say unofficial because the PM hasn't fired the starting gun yet. I actually thought he would post just after Australia Day but the polls have put paid to those plans.

Now, we know last election the polls were wrong, just as they were for Brexit and Trump 2016. But this time, I think they are reflective of where the country is at.

I'm not sure they are entirely fair but what I pick up isn't great for the government.

Newspoll today has the two party vote at 56-44 labors way. If that's what happened on election day it would be a labor landslide.

Things will tighten up over coming months but it's a long way home for the Coalition.

Part of the reason is because they have been around for three terms but a lot of it has been own goals. Being slightly less bad than Labor and the greens on climate policy and other political culture battles isn't the strongest campaign slogan.

It's pushed some Liberal thinkers into the arms of the minor parties.

But there has been a much bigger strategic blunder than the reversible policy announcements.

The PM, through an abundance of goodwill or naivete, threw his lot in with the state premiers.

These are an assorted bunch of hard core battle tested Labor toughnuts and a bunch of Liberal sops…(with the exception of Dom Perrottet in NSW).

When push comes to shove, the Labor luvvies do all the pushing and shoving while the Lib premiers meekly stand back and take it.

The PMs failure was to allow Labor premiers to write the narrative. The claimed credit for anything publicly popular and shoved the bad stuff onto the feds.

National cabinet was a disaster. Well intentioned, but a leaky ship that elevated State premiers well above their status.

That enabled them to turn all the focus onto the Federal government's whenever necessary and  avoid scrutiny of the federal opposition.

And that's the mood I am detecting right now.

No -one is talking about Albo or his hard left past. No one is looking at his team of hard left socialists hiding under sheeps cloaks until they can reveal themselves as wolves.

And today, seemingly for the first time ever, was the only time a journo actually had the guts to question him on how in the world he's expect to finance the cash-splash extravaganza of promises he's making left, right and centre.

His explanation, sounded typical of the fiscal management the left are so notoriously beguiled.

Three years ago, despite the polls, all the talk was about how Bill Shorten would be a disaster. Now, we are distracted with COVID and blaming all the woes on Scott Morrison.

And the focus is entirely on him. Whatever strengths he has, and some are formidable, consistency and predictability aren't two of them. He's now even got his own minister's conceding they understand why after the 'summer of omicron discontent' voters might not be thrilled.  

That's another reason some Libs have run to the crossbench.

If the coalition want to win this election, it will take every ounce og grit and campaign skill from the PM but it has to start with turning the blowtorch on to the alternative Prime Minister.

And there are plenty of vulnerabilities that would immediately strike a chord with the electorate.

The main weakness even blind Freddy could see here? It's Each-Way-Albo and his insistence on kowtowing to China's aggression.

China is a difficult business partner but it isn't an ally.

We don't like the human rights abuses or their coercive tactics. Their military power is a problem and the brown bag diplomacy known as belt and road is grubby.  

It get's much worse than that but the ALP machine has repeatedly demonstrated they are willing to not see whatever they don't want to.

No matter what he says, Albanese doesn't have a track record of sticking up for Taiwan or the Uighurs or the militarisation of the South China Sea.

Maybe its me but a few lines to placate and deflect the journalists during a speech to the press club don't override a lifetime of commitment to hard left causes.

that isn't a microcosm of each-way-albo and his attempt to appease both sides of the fence, I don't know what is.

If Albanese truly has had a road to Damascus conversion, he wouldn't still be leader.

But who knows, maybe he did make a few new years resolutions to help him win the election.

I know I certainly did and some of you probably did as well.

So why am I revisiting new years resolutions tonight?

Well, I am told it takes a month or so to develop a new habit and today is the end of the month.

So how did you go? I am happy to say that I’ve kept most of mine up.

I’m learning Spanish via an app, playing my guitar regularly and fiercely motivated (by my 16 year old niece) to improve my chess game.

My wife says they are my third or fourth mid-life crisis but I remind her it’s cheaper and healthier than a shiny red ferrari!

Today is also Chinese New Year’s eve and to all those celebrating their cultural tradition in this great country.

I wish you nothing but the best for the year of the Tiger.

And I bet they’ll be a few tigers chasing their tails this year as we have state and federal elections, we mop up after the pandemic response and the country wakes up to just how much has changed in a relatively short space of time.