As Labor MPs return from their summer holidays this week, there is some unrest in the ranks.
With murmurings of a caucus meeting next week and internal polling showing they are sleepwalking to a deep minority government, many in Labor are only now starting to confront the prospect that they could actually lose the election, due by 17 May.
After a scattergun approach for most of last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has kicked off 2025 returning to more fertile ground. This includes a tour of Queensland, where he made a $7.2 billion commitment in new funding for the Bruce Highway (or $1300 per Queenslander!), which is 80% of the expected cost of the upgrades.
The announcement all but abandons federal Labor’s vow, made in August, to move from a 80-20 funding split to 50-50 for nationally significant projects, considering other state governments will go to war if they don’t receive the same deal.
