To many observers, the Coalition’s 2017 budget looked odd. Banks copped a tax hike. Schools got more cash. Medicare funding was boosted and guaranteed, as was funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Leigh Sales’ first question to then Treasurer Scott Morrison on Budget night was indicative of the general reaction: “Could you be the first Liberal treasurer in history to deliver a Labor budget?”
Unsurprisingly, Labor’s then leader Bill Shorten was having none of this: “Make no mistake, this is not a Labor budget”, he said. He stressed the differences by blocking major parts of it – even when this meant turning his back on what had, until quite recently, been Labor policies.
Then Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, with then PM Julia Gillard in 2012. Credit:
And so not long afterwards, when frontbencher Anthony Albanese delivered a speech in Perth, a frisson ran through political circles. Albanese seemed to suggest that Shorten had not got his strategy quite right. He described the budget as an “ideological surrender”, an “overwhelming victory” for Labor. In one night, the Coalition had guaranteed a future for the NDIS, supported needs-based schools funding, and recognised the importance of universal healthcare. Those in the movement “should celebrate our victories”, he said.
Two of these “victories” were the confirmation of policies that began under the Rudd-Gillard governments. And so, given Albanese’s stance then, it’s not surprising that his government has done quite a lot of work to embed........