The spotlight

2 election wins, this one crushing. Twice turning the spotlight - albeit a little less firmly this time since the first referendum is now behind us, and the fingers are a little burnt. But still, twice marking the hundreds of nations which modern Australia rests upon, and the decamillenia of history they represent. The first hours and days of a victory offer room for showing and telling about your priorities, and including this says an awful lot to me. A special mention within this special mention goes to his reference to kindness and inclusion of all Australians. I would like to see how he actually plans to include people who don’t think like him, or like me, or who one or both of us find thoroughly distasteful, but that would be hard for anyone so I don’t have a problem with him giving it a crack.

I hope we get some kind of balance from the senate. I hope the LNP lick their wounds and build a healthy opposition. My sense is that governments with too much majority for too long become unhealthy.

Wait, what?

Time for a fact update.

The Australian Labor Party (with their crap spelling since 1912) have just won the federal election by a wide margin. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - and Foreign Minister Penny Wong before him - smoothly acknowledged Aboriginal country and the 300 or so nations which pre-dated Europeans landed here. The same political party led by the same man won the federal election in 2022, and in his victory speech Albo gave special mention to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and this:

We can answer its patient, gracious call for a voice enshrined in our constitution.

Over a year later, the referendum resulted in a No vote. There are many reasons. I’ll honour them with a moment’s silence.

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Politically, there is a potentially large price to pay for backing that expensive referendum. For reasons unknown to me there doesn’t seem to have been an actual price paid. I do reckon that the broader topic of Aboriginal reconciliation became a lot harder for the ALP to engage with. Still, here we are, no shying away from acknowledging the land we stand on.

Now what?

Competent government continues. Treasurer Jim Chalmers appears to be one of the country’s good ones, in a similar vein to his predecessor Wayne Swan who won some awards for his efforts while in office, and unlike the forgettable treasurers in between them.

Can we stop pandering to the fossil fuel industry though? I have my doubts.

How about some tax reform? Prosper Australia have their heads on straight and there are plenty of good ideas for the taking. Jim Chalmers did neatly dodge that question on TV tonight, so I’m not sure. Even the easy wins of shrinking negative gearing might not get anywhere.

I still wonder what our country would look like under PM Julie Bishop. She gave me a strong impression of being a genuine champion for foreign aid and all that Australia could do in this region and in the world. Aint gonna happen, I guess.