Freelance journalist and broadcaster, columnist for The West Australian.
The ripple effects from the decision are working their way like a cancer through the rural communities that depend on the native timber industry, some hitting long before they were expected.
Paul Murray
Those wealthy voters who supported the independents demanding a Canberra-based anti-corruption fighter should be careful with their wishes.
Both major parties have the same problem: convincing one-third of the electorate – and growing – that they are relevant to their concerns.
There is now considerable momentum for Anthony Albanese’s Labor Government to meet the wishes of those calling for a much bigger effort to cut Australia’s carbon emissions.
It’s what we didn’t hear the leaders argue about that should bother people the most as they head to the polls on Saturday.
The absolute bottom line to the Coalition’s election campaign has been that big sections of Australian society stopped listening to Prime Minister Scott Morrison some time ago.
It might appear highly cynical to suggest that next weekend’s poll is a good one for the coalition to lose. But in the most basic political terms, that’s not an unreasonable proposition.
Seven’s final leaders’ debate was not the Nine free-for-all of Sunday that many people criticised, but it didn’t really take the election campaign forward.
Can those people who watched the second leaders’ debate in this dreary election campaign honestly say they easily envisage Anthony Albanese as their prime minister?
Labor’s Help To Buy home affordability promotion is probably the biggest porkie of the campaign so far.
All stakeholders are playing politics over China’s worrying pact with the Solomons, but Labor is walking both sides of the fence.
Much has been made of the influence of the so-called ‘teal’ Independents, but a minority government beholden to mavericks would end in chaos.
© West Australian Newspapers Limited 2022
