Because the Albanese authorities enters its third calendar 12 months in workplace, anticipate a cost-of-living reduction push, a probably divisive debate over non secular discrimination, and lots of extra discussions about housing.
However there’s little likelihood of one other referendum — the federal government seems to have put plans for a republic vote on ice for now — nor are we prone to see an election in 2024. Following final 12 months’s bruising defeat within the Voice to Parliament vote, the federal government isn’t eager for extra ballots.
When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confronted reporters final week, he stated cost-of-living reduction — balanced with the necessity to preserve inflation from accelerating — could be the federal government’s precedence. Easing the price of dwelling is a label that may be slapped on many disparate tasks — for instance, Albanese touted a brand new initiative to supply 300,000 fee-free TAFE locations as a strategy to ease family prices.
“An amazing instance of us offering cost-of-living reduction by way of fee-free TAFE, while additionally addressing the long run problems with labour market shortages and provide chain points that Australia has to take care of so as to proceed to place that downward strain on inflation,” he stated.
Among the many 2024 authorities priorities talked about by officers briefing reporters have been common childcare, bettering the probabilities of first-time residence consumers making an attempt to enter the housing market, and strengthening Medicare. The latter will probably be achieved by working with states and territories to draw extra GPs and nurses, based on the federal government’s plans.
There have been guarantees to take a position extra in renewable power and to safe so-called vital minerals. Albanese stated in October that “harnessing” the minerals would permit Australia to grow to be a “renewable power superpower”.
There may even be extra journeys overseas. The Australian Monetary Evaluation reported earlier this week that Albanese’s overseas journey schedule might common one journey overseas monthly throughout the 12 months’s second half.
When Parliament returns in February, non secular discrimination legal guidelines are anticipated to return into focus as soon as once more. Legal professional-Basic Mark Dreyfus is planning to launch the findings of a assessment by the Australian Regulation Reform Fee, meant to assist form a brand new discrimination framework that might additionally enhance protections for LGBTQIA+ college students and employees at non secular colleges, The Sydney Morning Herald reported final weekend. A pair of average Liberal MPs urged their colleagues to not let the talk “once more descend right into a tradition warfare that captures LGBTQ Australians in its crosshairs”.
If the opposition chief will get to determine — and he has been profitable in shaping the agenda for the reason that Voice referendum — migration may even be an enormous problem in 2024.
“It’s an enormous problem … it turns out that this authorities is a comfortable contact on criminals, and we’ve seen that within the final 12 months, however we even have seen in relation to a few of these asylum seekers as nicely,” Peter Dutton informed 2GB radio final week.
Whereas the referendum on the Voice failed, the drawback hole going through First Nations folks stays an enormous drawback for Australia.
But to this point, there are not any indicators Indigenous points will probably be excessive on this 12 months’s precedence listing. For a topic he spent a lot of final 12 months campaigning on — and on which he spent a substantial quantity of political capital — Albanese has been largely silent on the disadvantages going through First Nations folks for the reason that referendum failed.
Background briefings from officers to reporters about authorities priorities this 12 months haven’t talked about Closing The Hole, nor has Albanese in any media appearances.
When requested a two-pronged query on Tuesday by a journalist in Queensland about Labor’s probabilities of successful an election there and concerning the political knowledge of continuous to push for treaty, Albanese selected to solely reply the primary query and then ended the press convention.
At one other press convention three days into the brand new 12 months, Albanese stated there wouldn’t be an election till Might 2025.
Neither is it possible we’ll see a referendum on making Australia a republic anytime quickly, a said purpose of this authorities.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers stated that the difficulty “hadn’t been a spotlight of his” when he fronted reporters earlier this week.
“Clearly, we’re nonetheless going by way of the results of the referendum in the direction of the top of final 12 months, when the federal government is able to make bulletins about a few of the different proposals for constitutional change, we’ll make them. However that’s not my focus proper now,” he stated.