Albanese government risks falling into old patterns of spin and hypocrisy

Australia was promised a new way of governance — a more respectful, representative and efficient Parliament. The Labor government vowed to be upfront, transparent and honest. So why then, after fewer than 110 days in power, is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prioritising spin over substance?

From misleading remarks on welfare payments, tone-deaf comments and an unruly question time, the second sitting week since the election might be the canary in the coalmine as old habits die hard.

Yesterday significant increases to welfare payments were announced and Labor spruiked them as the “biggest increase in 30 years”. But as political analysts quickly pointed out, the government had nothing to do with it. The rises happen twice a year to adjust payments to the consumer price index. The biggest increase in 30 years isn’t thanks to the government’s generosity but an indicator of how bad inflation has got.

Taking it right from the Morrison playbook, Albanese stood in front of cameras to congratulate himself for doing nothing — while ruling out increases to JobSeeker in the October budget. 

He also suffered a bit of foot-in-mouth during question time yesterday when responding to Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather who asked: “Will you put aside your own status as a landlord and put the Greens’ proposal for a two-year rent freeze and an interest rate [freeze] on the agenda for the next meeting of the national cabinet?”

“I am very pleased that I am back in public housing, it has to be said. A lot better than my first public house,” Albanese said in response, before spruiking the Australian Future Fund that will create 30,000 additional social housing units.

Comparing his 40-room taxpayer-funded mansion, complete with staff quarters, chef and pool to public housing with long waiting lists raised some eyebrows. (To be fair, he may have been repeating a joke first published in The Shovel.)

Despite Albanese saying he wants to lift the tone of debate in Parliament, there hasn’t been much improvement in question time, with politicians shouting over one another. The opposition was accused of deliberately delaying proceedings with constant interjections — in one instance it called a point of order four times for one question.

Albanese has been cutting question time short, stopping promptly at 3.10pm — despite using about 20 minutes of the allotted time for condolence speeches. 

It led independents Zoe Daniel and Monique Ryan to put forward a motion to guarantee the crossbench three questions. That passed with the support of the government yesterday. 

(As an aside, independent Dai Le gave her maiden speech yesterday, recounting her refugee journey while wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress made from fabric printed with the Australian flag to emphasise her patriotism. An interesting choice, especially given MPs have been warned about using props after Morrison’s coal stunt. The last person to wear a flag to Parliament was Pauline Hanson in 1996 to criticise multiculturalism.) 

Climate is on the agenda, with the Climate Change Bill 2022 introduced into the Senate to legislate an emissions reduction target of 43% from 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050, and the Greens introducing a climate trigger bill to halt developments that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon. 

But as pointed out in The Saturday Paper, Labor is jeopardising its climate target by approving almost 47,000 square kilometres for offshore oil and gas exploration at the same time as the bill is being debated. Resources Minister Madeleine King argued the developments are “vital for Australia’s economy”. 

Speaking of emissions, when jetting from the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner in Sydney to Canberra for last week’s jobs summit, Albanese didn’t take his private jet, opting instead for a much larger Airbus to ferry a few friends also at the event. While it’s been reported his guests were told they’d have to pay for their seats, it’s not clear what the plane upgrade cost taxpayers.

The prime minister’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment (and also avoided Crikey’s earlier questions about a trip to visit Lachlan Murdoch at the News Corp headquarters) which is definitely a case of deja vu.  

The new Parliament certainly looks different — more diverse, more efficient and, apparently, more collaborative and respectful. There’s a lot of work being done on respectful workplaces, advancements on gender and more legislation being debated and pushed through than the previous government managed. But given Albanese won an election promising to do things with more transparency and more respect, he’d better keep an eye on his government’s conduct.

Has Anthony Albanese forgotten his pledges of a more respectful Parliament? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.Tuesday, March 29th