Albanese is manipulating his rivals to wage war on One Nation. It’s unlikely to work |
Albanese is manipulating his rivals to wage war on One Nation. It’s unlikely to work
August 21, 2026 — 3:00am
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This week, the full parliamentary power of the Albanese government was on display. I’m not sure I can remember a week in which a government struck so many deals with the opposition’s help. On gambling advertising reform. On cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. On the so-called “widow tax” that fell out of its changes to negative gearing. Those negative gearing changes, by the way, were passed with the help of the Greens.
These are not small changes. Gambling reform has been a pebble in the government’s shoe for months now – an issue that separates it from public opinion and divides its own members. It’s emotionally potent, too, surrounded by stories of lives destroyed by corporate predation, and – for Labor MPs – a deceased colleague’s recommendations that lay ignored for a thousand days.
Meanwhile, the NDIS cuts involve the government correcting the “design flaws” in Labor’s own system, and inspire enormous worry in people relying on the scheme. It’s not quite right to call these barnacles. But they are the kind of issues that could easily have become so. Much like the tax changes before them.
It’s a remarkable wrinkle in the fabric of this political moment. The polls say the Albanese government is under pressure, neck and neck with One Nation, its primary vote stubbornly refusing to recover to pre-budget levels. The parliament says Labor can do more or less as it pleases. That’s because its main opponent has almost no........