The question of climate change was one that did not feature prominently in this election, even in those seats held by Greens or “teal” independents, yet it persists. In our immediate region, the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, made up of civil society organisations, certainly preferred Labor’s re-election to the return of the Coalition, but noted that at this “moment of urgency”, there have been “significant shortcomings” in the government’s approach to emissions and fossil fuels.
The blows being inflicted on the global trading system by the Trump administration and the question of how to manage our relations with both Washington and Beijing in an uncertain world will require Albanese to put some of his newfound confidence to use in articulating how we intend to navigate and build partnerships to address this volatility.
While the treasurer was keen to label the prime minister as “practical, pragmatic, problem-solving”, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told us that “there is a power in universality”. Those two threads will have to be woven together if the euphoria of election night and the days that have followed are to be made into something more lasting.
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Nothing is more universal than taxes, and while the cuts Labor took to the election are pragmatic, they don’t solve the problem of what economist Saul Eslake called “an increasingly inefficient and inequitable tax system … increasingly incapable of generating the revenue required to pay for the spending which the public clearly expects”.
Among those services are the NDIS, and it will certainly be a national challenge to keep the costs of that scheme in check while also protecting it from those who seek to defraud it. It is a challenge Labor must meet if talk of universality, kindness and no one left behind is to be more than campaign slogans.
A modest and disciplined campaign delivered Albanese and his team a stunning victory. Yet already there are signs of the party’s factional divisions resurfacing. To do what is best for readers and the nation, the campaign’s modesty and discipline will have to be wedded to a sense of the historic opportunity which now presents itself and a willingness to engage all sections of our community in the work ahead. We hope that Labor can seize the moment.
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