Opinion: Scott Morrison had originally intended a budget of dramatic reform, it seemed but a lot has happened since April | mrseankelly
Now consider just how difficult this has made the government’s budget preparation this year – in what was already a very complicated situation. Just a few weeks ago the country felt mired in crisis. The mood was sullen, tending towards a kind of claustrophobic indignation. The premiers and the Prime Minister were yelling at each other.
A lot has happened since April. Perhaps, for quite some time, the government retained this intention. But in recent weeks the government seems to have started quietly seeding the idea that this won’t be a reform budget after all. There might be a lot of spending, and a lot of announcements, but nothing really dramatic. The word “reform” is still being used, but more in that blandly aggrandising way that governments these days call everything they do “reform”.
But on Thursday, after several reports suggesting trouble, the ACTU put out a media statement criticising employer groups for breaching confidentiality. They had, said the union, no desire to reach common ground, but only a wish “to undermine working people’s rights”. The statement said the union still believed an agreement was possible – but it’s reasonable to think the chances of large shifts have diminished.
Morrison’s habit of always keeping himself at a distance, in order to avoid full responsibility, carries a political risk, that voters will one day get sick of the dodging. But the more immediate risk is that, by keeping him from getting properly involved, his ability to make things happen is severely hampered. At some point, if he wants to deliver real change, Morrison is going to have to put his own authority on the line.
Perhaps this will pay off. After all, the virus might do anything, and a little more certainty might be helpful in deciding what comes next. But this past week has brought warnings of the way that time can get away from a government.
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