Keep your friends close…
Josh Frydenberg‘s former spinner Kane Silom has been appointed director of communications for the much-diminished federal opposition.
Silom had an, at times, terse relationship with the Canberra press gallery, but we won’t hold that against him. After all, many in the gallery aren’t capable of seeing any virtue in the right-wing side of major party politicking.
But is Silom a stalking horse for a Frydenberg return, rather than all in with new leader Sussan Ley? The former Treasurer MP for Kooyong hasn’t exactly dismissed rumours he might try to return to the political fold.
The ‘will he, won’t he’ speculation about a Frydenberg comeback was the bane of Peter Dutton‘s existence during his time at the top of the Liberal Party tree, and the size of the election defeat shouldn’t blind us to the reality that his authority was absolute. At least until he lost the election and his seat.
But judging by some post-election comments Silom made about where Liberals have gone wrong in recent years, it certainly doesn’t sound like he’s remotely interested in Josh returning to parliament.
Why? Because he poured a bucket of you-know-what all over the party for its lack of ‘philosophical backbone’ during the very time his old boss was deputy leader.
The carve-up included accusing the Liberals of acting like ‘Labor-lite’, lamenting a lack of ‘prudent economic management’, and saying that the party needs to reject the idea that ‘government is the solution to every problem’ as displayed during Covid.
Is Josh Frydenberg (pictured) going to make a comeback now his former spinner Kane Silom has been appointed director of communications for the federal opposition? Don’t count on it
If the Liberals have fallen short on all those fronts – and I don’t disagree, for the record – the failure lies with Frydenberg more than most, given he was treasurer and deputy leader at the time.
I guess staff loyalty can’t be expected to continue when they are no longer working for you! Perhaps Silom is an old-fashioned believer of giving frank and fearless advice, but I didn’t see a whole lot of evidence of that while he was working for Josh.
‘Another Albo acolyte’
Boy, oh boy, is there disquiet over Anthony Albanese‘s captain’s call to accept defecting Greens WA senator Dorinda Cox into the Labor fold.
Even putting aside the hypocrisy of slamming Fatima Payman for failing to give up her senate seat when she left Labor only to now accept a Green doing the same, Cox is a controversial figure given bullying allegations made against her which are said to remain unresolved.
She has also been highly critical of the Labor Party in recent years.
And it’s hard to see the upside in accepting her traitorous desire to switch parties. Labor doesn’t need the extra vote in the senate for any practical purpose, and it doesn’t change the Greens retaining the balance of power.
All it does is upset the minor party, which might come back to bite Albo sooner or later.
Senator Cox (left) previously said: ‘Labor and the Coalition are puppets for the fossil fuel industry’
One Labor MP put it rather succinctly, and bluntly: ‘He’s an idiot, seriously.
‘I can only assume he’s done it because she’ll join the left [faction] and become another Albo acolyte. He loves nothing more than being loved by adoring fans.’
Degrees of separation
Tensions between the PM and his No. 3 economic adviser are growing. And not just because Jim Chalmers says he’s not prepared to negotiate with the Coalition to reach a compromise on how to progress plans to tax super more.
Albo has now twice indicated a willingness to do exactly that, both before and after his treasurer said it wasn’t happening. The latter was a deliberate slap down to remind Jim who’s boss.
But the real tensions likely to keep growing over the next three – or six – years come from Albo’s decision to promote Dan Mulino into the assistant treasury role and Andrew Charlton to the role of cabinet secretary.
The pair hold PhDs in economics from Yale and Oxford, which is why they are understandably now the PM’s top two economic advisers ahead of their more senior ranking minister Chalmers.
Albo’s decision to promote Dan Mulino into the assistant treasurer role could explain some of the tension with Jim Chalmers
While Jim is always happy to leave people to assume that he, too, has a doctorate in economics, in reality his PhD is in politics. Chalmers’ only economic training (if that’s the right wording) is serving on the staff of former treasurer Wayne Swan.
Hardly on a par with learning the economic ropes from the likes of Nobel prize-winning economists such as Joseph Stiglitz, who wrote a book with Charlton, or Yale professor Robert J. Shiller, who helped guide Mulino’s studies.
Another dummy spit
Finally, with the tight contest for Bradfield having flipped in the recount – the Liberals won initially by eight votes but lost the recount to the teals by 26 – it’s looking like the party will take action in the court of disputed returns.
If successful, they might get another recount, or perhaps a fresh by-election.
While I can see why the party might want to go down that path to prevent another blue ribbon seat falling to the teals, it’s not likely to be a winning strategy.
The appearance of sour grapes, not accepting the voters’ judgement, not abiding by the referee’s decision (pick your way to phrase the dummy spit) surely is likely to turn many voters off? Including some who voted Liberal the first time around.
By-elections are also expensive, and turnout is usually lower than at general elections. You’d think such factors favour the teals, not the newly minted opposition that was decimated at the polls.
I suspect the Liberals are hoping a new female leader from the moderate wing of the party helps them do better than they did at a general election with Dutton in charge.
But it’s a gamble and it risks knee-capping Ley very early on if it goes against them.
