First, the new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Michele Bullock, looks like a good appointment, and I’m sorry to hear that Ben Wallace, the UK defence minister, will resign. Quite understandable, as his silly PM won’t increase defence expenditure much past 2 per cent, and certainly not to 3 per cent of GDP, as Mr Wallace wanted. (In my view, all NATO countries, as well as Australia and NZ, should spend that amount.)

Congratulations are due to local Gold Coast identity Cameron Caldwell on retaining the federal seat of Fadden with a swing to the LNP of 4.2 per cent (about 2.6 per cent two-party-preferred). 

This is the first real setback the Albanese government has had; the federal government can dress it up all they like, but the result is a higher swing against a sitting government than the normal 1.7 per cent swing to opposition in an opposition-held seat at a by-election. 

There are a number of reasons why the opposition did well on the weekend, and not so well in the recent Aston by-election in Victoria. An important one was that cost-of-living increases are starting to bite, and Peter Dutton and the opposition are now offering voters a real alternative, and not just a Labor / Green-lite small target.

As the cost of living continues to increase, the unseemly, unnecessary, headlong rush into green energy gathers pace, and ordinary Australians become aware of the dangers we face from ‘woke’ nonsense in our institutions, a strong opposition highlighting these issues will gather strength. A series of business closures and blackouts / brownouts next year may well be enough to see the federal Albanese government be a one-term government. Helpful hint, Albo: take a leaf out of President Xi’s book when it comes to energy policy.

I have said before that the fundamental reason Scott Morrison lost the last election was because there was little to separate the parties in policy terms. I must say I would have preferred Peter Dutton to have been PM in 2018, but to Mr Morrison’s credit, he did win in 2019 (by being different to the ALP and the Greens). This brings me to the point: should ScoMo resign from parliament? Defeated PMs usually do. One reason may well have been that whilst previous PMs were all elected to federal parliament prior to 2004, and thus benefited from the old, very generous pension scheme, ScoMo was elected in 2007, after the scheme closed. I would not be surprised if he simply can’t afford to resign at present. Most people don’t want the old leader hanging around like a bad smell – but if s/he is doing a good job as a local member (and can’t afford to leave), it may be something we have to get used to. At any rate, I would imagine the Liberal Party may well preselect a new face for the Shire at the next election, if ScoMo has not left by then.