Albanese targets 'right-wing parties' identity crisis

Albanese targets ‘right‑wing parties’ identity crisis as budget relief tilts political balance

Albanese targets 'right-wing parties' identity crisis. The prime minister declared, framing the budget as a antidote to voter anger and signalling a new offensive against what he called an “identity crisis” on the right.

"We have a Liberal Party that isn’t liberal, a National Party that isn’t national and a One Nation Party that wants to divide the nation."

Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister, via The Saturday Paper

Media additions

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday that the government was using the power of incumbency to deliver cost-of-living help. He cited a full six months’ paid parental leave, making it easier for first-home buyers, and major investments in Medicare “including making Urgent Care Clinics permanent”.

Policy rollout and market reaction

The dramatic drop in auction clearance rates is simply because sellers and buyers cannot agree on price, says economist Matt Grudnoff, of The Australia Institute. Sellers’ expectations have not changed yet, but once the market stabilises and people get a clearer idea about how much homes are worth, he says, “auction clearance rates will go up again”. Grudnoff expects that even if property prices were to drop 9 per cent, “that would take prices back to September 2024 and no further”. Even before those changes were announced the housing market was in decline, but according to Cotality research director Tim Lawless the reforms have “further impacted investor confidence”.

The Guardian Essential poll found support for One Nation dropping two points, four below Labor’s improved primary vote, and pollster Peter Lewis said One Nation’s support may be plateauing. The survey found Australians resoundingly rejected many of One Nation’s key proposals. Only 10 per cent support shutting down the federal Health Department. Ending multiculturalism garnered 20 per cent support. Shutting down the public broadcasters was similarly unpopular, as was reviewing work laws to give employers more power, which garnered only 18 per cent support.

Right‑wing parties scramble for identity

This week, outer Sydney MP Melissa McIntosh told Sky News the Liberal Party should look at a rebrand. She said the Liberals could not continue to shrug off their poll slump: “Some people think that we’re stuck in the past and our policies need to resonate with the Australia of today and the future.” Her public intervention infuriated many of her colleagues, with one describing it as an unhelpful “brain fart”. South Australian MP Tony Pasin last month appeared to suggest a non-compete pact with One Nation in certain seats at the next election.

The record low primary vote for the Coalition in Newspoll earnt Liberal leader Angus Taylor an uncharacteristically tough interview on Sydney’s Radio 2GB. Taylor was reminded that the Liberals hitting 18 per cent under his predecessor Sussan Ley was the pretext for her removal. Taylor’s putative rival, Andrew Hastie, appears to be giving the leader plenty of time – at least until the end of the year, when he hopes the Coalition’s policy development work under Taylor will be nearing completion. Hastie parted company with McIntosh on rebranding, saying the party has 82 years of political capital and “we’re not going to vacate the space and give up as some people are suggesting we should”. As for the party’s identity, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the discussion about the Liberals rebranding is already settled and “it’s called One Nation”.

Commentary in The Times notes that the Coalition’s woes echo a broader “culture‑war” backlash that has kept the old Liberal playbook alive, while The Conversation argues that prime‑ministerial “new politics” has unraveled under the weight of cost‑of‑living concerns, industrial‑relations disputes and a fractured response to the 2023 Voice referendum defeat.

Expert criticism of the Albanese government

Meanwhile, Gareth Evans and Bill Kelty, key figures from the Hawke/Keating period, have excoriated the Albanese government’s allegedly lacklustre performance. Natanael G — author of a LinkedIn commentary comparing Australia’s leftward drift to the French Socialist Party’s collapse — warns that Labor’s alignment with Greens and “radical” identity politics risks alienating the working‑class base. He cites the 2023 referendum on the Indigenous Voice, which suffered a decisive defeat (60.1% voting No).