Negotiating the Terrain
We clad you in armour. We gifted you courage, strength, determination. We sheaved our swords in order to negotiate the terrain. We could see more than they could see, it was as simple as that.
Australia was in the midst of an election almost nobody he met could even bear to watch, or had any determined views about which of the parasites, which of the biggest losers, would win their vote.
A dramatic fall in living standards, an almost universal distrust if not contempt for government, none of it was enough to persuade the hordes to cast their ballot in one direction or another.
Out there in the groaning suburban quiet. A lacklustre, underwhelming performance by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, no cut through, no confidence, no reason to budge the needle off the sad decline of the country to a more invigorated decision, a brighter future. Compromise was on every corner. Stifling debates over minutiae. We'll cut this by this percentage for this many months. Talk about glaze over.
Literally, nothing cut through.
On the home front, Old Alex was about to get a boarder. Hopefully it would work out better than the last mad tradie, who trashed the joint on departure, tearing off doors and destroying furniture in a mad drunken howling at the moon episode.
He had been a good drinking buddy amidst the stifling terrors of lockdowns, and that was enough.
The gods frolicked beneath an all seeing eye. Quiet, so damn quiet. That's what he noticed the most.
MAINSTREAM HEADLINES
SKY NEWS
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has won the first election debate but not with a majority as 21 per cent of voters remain undecided.
Mr Albanese won the forum, convincing 44 out of the 100 undecided voters that were selected by an independent polling agency.
However, the Prime Minister failed to win over a majority of the crowd, while Mr Dutton secured 35 per cent of voters and 21 per cent remained undecided.
The forum, moderated by Sky News Chief Anchor Kieran Gilbert, is expected to be a turning point in the campaign ahead of the May 3 federal election.
GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA
Albanese accuses Coalition of ‘gaslighting’ public over energy as Dutton touts economic credentials in first leaders’ debate
Prime minister asks ‘how can you believe what they’ll do after the election’ as opposition leader accuses Labor of having the wrong priorities
ABC
Albanese and Dutton accuse each other of lying in otherwise polite federal election leaders' debate
SBS
Is Australia heading into a recession? Here's why you shouldn't be worried
Whispers that a recession could reach Australia are increasing amid growing economic turmoil. But you shouldn't worry just yet.
This week, share markets around the world experienced their Major indexes on New York's Wall Street dropped about 10 per cent, and the tech-focused Nasdaq is down 20 per cent from its recent high. Markets in Europe and Asia have also fallen.
In Australia, the main S&P/ASX 200 index fell another 4.2 per cent on Monday after falls last week, dropping to its lowest point since December 2023, before rallying on Tuesday afternoon.
NEWS
‘Exclusively male’: Liberal defence spokesman Andrew Hastie under fire over combat roles for women
Days after the Liberal Party moved to dump a candidate for expressing similar views, videos have surfaced of Andrew Hastie expressing his own views on the Bolt Report.
Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie is under fire after it emerged that his personal view is that “the DNA of a close combat unit is best-preserved if it is exclusively male.”
Just days after the Liberal Party moved to dump the candidate for Whitlam for expressing similar views, videos have surfaced of Mr Hastie expressing his own views on the Bolt Report.
Mr Hastie is the opposition spokesperson for defence and would become the minister if Mr Dutton is elected.
THE NEW DAILY
A dumped Liberal candidate has unleashed on the “faceless men” he accused of making up lies against him and also plotting to roll leader Peter Dutton.
Former paratrooper Ben Britton is now running as an independent for the seat of Whitlam on the NSW south coast.
He was reportedly tapped on the shoulder over resurfaced comments from a podcast last July, in which he expressed the view that women should not serve in combat roles.
On Tuesday, Britton told 2GB’s Ben Fordham he was “relieved” to have been disendorsed because he was “free to finally say what I want to say and speak for the people”.
MACRO BUSINESS
Trump hands the election to Labor
Forget the cost-of-living crisis. Forget the housing crisis. Forget the energy market. The biggest single factor that will determine the upcoming federal election is US President Donald J Trump.
President Trump’s posturing has single-handedly rescued Canada’s incumbent Liberal progressive government from electoral annihilation, gifting it an election-winning lead.
The Trump effect is also the biggest factor behind the Albanese Labor Government’s resurgence in the polls.
The latest polling from Roy Morgan Research now has the ALP on 53.5% (up 0.5% points from a week ago) ahead of the L-NP Coalition on 46.5% (down 0.5%) on a two-party preferred basis.
Primary support for the ALP increased at the expense of the Coalition, with support for the ALP up 0.5% to 32.5%. The Coalition’s primary support dropped 2% to 33%. This is the closest the two parties have been on primary vote support since mid-October 2023.
If a federal election were held now, the ALP would be returned to government with an increased majority.
SPECTATOR AUSTRALIA
Is Trump stoking a global recession?
CRIKEY
On the campaign trail: How small media players are iced out
The opposition leader has begun his election campaign in shambolic fashion. He urgently needs to fix it — otherwise, we might be doomed to a Labor majority.
THE NIGHTLY
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