Its a little alarming how much Paul Kelly's analysis agrees with mine. As he says the federal budget signals the reluctant surrender of the LNP to the reality of Australian public opinion, which has rejected the vicious far right neo-liberal agenda. Paul Kelly disapproves of this of course, so there's that difference between us.
Clearly he's right that this seismic move to the left by the Turnbull government has forced the Labor party to immediately move left as well. If only to get out of the way.
I can't resist the urge to say "I told you so!" Getting the ALP to shift further to the left would not have happened of course if the ALP had actually won the last election, so my assertion before the last election that a narrow Liberal/National Party electoral victory would be far better than a Labor win has proved more true than even I imagined. Not only have the LNP now adopted most of Labor's policies, but of course they will be more likely to be able to actually put them into practice, since the ALP will find it difficult to oppose policies they themselves first proposed!
(Likewise, the ALP always has less trouble enacting LNP policies when they win government, for the same reason. The LNP don't oppose them.)
Actually forcing the ALP to move further to the left was a surprise even to me though. I can only imagine the desperate horror this inspires in Paul Kelly and other right-wingers at the Murdoch press.
Bill Bartlett
Bracknell Tas
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