Peter Dutton began the new year by trying very hard to make sure there was nothing new about it. Summer as circuit-breaker for Labor? Not so fast. It’s “almost like this year has started off like last year finished for Anthony Albanese”, he told 2GB.
A few days later, on 4BC, Dutton told listeners, “I just don’t think he’s got his mojo back, and we’re seeing the Anthony Albanese from last year roll into this year”.
Illustration by Jim Pavlidis.Credit:
“Mojo” was an interesting word to use. The term became particularly popular among journalists towards the end of last year. Its meaning is a little vague, but I think it’s fair to say leans more towards the performative than the substantive: some combination of confidence, strategic nous and luck.
Some argue that a focus on such things skews media coverage away from actual policy. That’s true, but it is also foolish to ignore their role in what is a conflict-driven arena. In War and Peace, Tolstoy has one of his characters declare that “a battle is won by the side that has firmly resolved to win”. In the battle of Austerlitz, says Prince Andrei, “We said to ourselves that we were losing the battle, and we did lose it. And we said so because we had nothing to fight for then: we wanted to get away from the battlefield as soon as we could.”
Dutton’s declaration was one of those rare honest moments for politicians, when they acknowledge that leaders’ fortunes are often determined by intangible factors – things like psychology, luck and the ability to entertain (what Laurie Oakes called “razzle-dazzle”). And it was honest in another way, an oblique concession that any difficulties Albanese might now be experiencing were not so much permanent character flaws as cyclical. After all, he had had his mojo before; presumably he could have it again.
New year, new battlelines: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Joe Armao
This is Dutton’s fear and Albanese’s desire. Much has already been made of the political contrast between last summer and this summer: then Labor was soaring, now it’s only going so-so. Interestingly, though, Albanese’s approach last January was similar to his approach now. In the equivalent week last year, across various locations, he spoke to journalists 10 times; this year it was also 10. Last year he was talking about something he wanted done – the Indigenous Voice to parliament – though he was fuzzy about the details. This year he is talking about action on grocery prices, and the details are just as fuzzy.
There is one important difference. As became depressingly clear last October, the Voice was simply not that important to most people. This year, Albanese’s topic is something every Australian is talking about.
Which is not to say the government’s plans add up to much – as Rod Sims, former ACCC head, wrote last week. The announcement felt more like something suited to opposition: performing concern rather than genuinely doing something. In opposition, policies are not so much solutions as ways to shine a spotlight on a problem. Which is more or less what the Labor opposition under Kevin Rudd did when it raised the issue in 2007.
In government, those plans didn’t add up to much. I remember the day the Rudd government dumped its “grocery choice” website. But I remember it for another reason entirely: Michael Jackson died early that morning, and those of us in the prime minister’s media office spent that Friday doing little except listening to Jackson tracks played loudly. If I had not read an old piece this week, I would not have remembered the “grocery choice” announcement at all.
So why shine a light on this problem the government will struggle to fix? Because sometimes politics calls for a bit of hoopla, a bit of theatre magic. It would be a stretch to say this government has worked out how to razzle-dazzle, but at least it has figured out what it wants its performance to get across. It also couldn’t afford to let the Coalition (which had already flagged an ACCC inquiry into some supermarket pricing) get there first.
Because Dutton knows a thing or two about theatrics himself. Last week he attacked Woolworths for its decision not to stock Australia Day gear, calling for a boycott of the company; he found a way to blame Albanese, suggesting corporate leaders wanted to cosy up to his “woke” agenda. This is silly stuff, of course, but points to an interesting contrast, and pitfalls for both sides.
Labor’s Murray Watt made that contrast publicly, saying Dutton was focused on culture wars while Labor was focused on prices. The danger for Labor is missing the way Dutton connects the two. Last week he in effect said these culture wars are economic: it is “woke” wars driving up prices. “If you’ve got spare time and you’ve got spare cash, bring down the prices of your items and provide support to families.” This is precisely what he did on the Voice, suggesting companies’ support for the Indigenous cause pushed prices up. This is awful stuff, effectively pitting ordinary voters and their hip-pockets against Indigenous people and their concerns.
The danger for Dutton is assuming that what worked last year will work again. It was Albanese’s choice to focus on the Voice; the blame was therefore easy to allocate. But attempting to blame Albanese for Woolworths’ decision required logical leaps. If this is how Dutton plans to campaign, he risks sidelining himself, proving Watt’s point
The most important fact to note about all of this – on both sides - is that it’s fairly trivial. When Tolstoy’s Prince Andrei spoke of a desire to win trumping tactics, he also explained why that passion had been lacking: “we had nothing to fight for”. Politicians who are fired up – who know what they are fighting for – have far less trouble putting on performances that grab the attention of their audience. When that happens, nobody complains about mojo.
Sean Kelly is author of The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison, a regular columnist and a former adviser to Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
Dutton wants 2024 to be a repeat of 2023, but wishing doesn’t make it so
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14.01.2024
Peter Dutton began the new year by trying very hard to make sure there was nothing new about it. Summer as circuit-breaker for Labor? Not so fast. It’s “almost like this year has started off like last year finished for Anthony Albanese”, he told 2GB.
A few days later, on 4BC, Dutton told listeners, “I just don’t think he’s got his mojo back, and we’re seeing the Anthony Albanese from last year roll into this year”.
Illustration by Jim Pavlidis.Credit:
“Mojo” was an interesting word to use. The term became particularly popular among journalists towards the end of last year. Its meaning is a little vague, but I think it’s fair to say leans more towards the performative than the substantive: some combination of confidence, strategic nous and luck.
Some argue that a focus on such things skews media coverage away from actual policy. That’s true, but it is also foolish to ignore their role in what is a conflict-driven arena. In War and Peace, Tolstoy has one of his characters declare that “a battle is won by the side that has firmly resolved to win”. In the battle of Austerlitz, says Prince Andrei, “We said to ourselves that we were losing the battle, and we did lose it. And we said so because we had nothing to fight for then: we wanted to get away from the battlefield as soon as we could.”
Dutton’s declaration was one of those rare honest moments for politicians, when they acknowledge that leaders’ fortunes are often determined by intangible factors – things like psychology, luck and........
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