CAMERON MILNER: Not even a PM as tone deaf as Anthony Albanese would call an election in cyclone’s aftermath

They say a week is a long time in politics, so the past week tracking the cyclone headed towards Brisbane must’ve felt like an eternity for the Albanistas.

They were so set on Albo calling the election this coming Sunday for April 12.

But this Sunday may well see South East Queenslanders clearing up cyclone damage for the first time in 50 years.

Homes may have lost roofs, power and fresh water. Many thousands more may well be completely flooded out.

Following severe weather events in 2011 and 2022, it took days to get people back into their homes and months to properly clean up local streets and parks — and that was without a cyclone.

Even for a bloke as tone deaf and out of touch as Anthony Albanese, calling an election under such circumstances would seem like a particularly callous act.

Albanese has never understood Queensland and still hates the State for leading the nation’s revolt against his Voice to Parliament. But the rest of Australia will have the disaster on their nightly news.

Election speculation has been rife for a while and with each passing week of procrastination from Albanese, the number of possible Saturdays become fewer and fewer.

Federal elections have a minimum 33 day election period, so typically they are called Sunday or Monday for a Saturday four weekends away.

This means that April 5 has already passed and the next election day available is April 12.

April 19 is Easter Saturday and the 26th is the day after Anzac Day. Both won’t be considered appropriate.

The last day you can have it is May 17, leaving only May 10 or 3.

The problem with May is that doesn’t give you a fig leaf of an excuse for why you didn’t hold the Federal Budget scheduled for March 25.

Calling an election this weekend allows the Budget question to be fudged. Leaving it any later looks like you are running scared from what it contains.

Some scribes were convinced when the ALP machine put out invites to the annual lobbyists Roundtable Budget Night piss-up that meant there’d be an actual Budget. Then the ALP started refunding money to the early bird bookings.

Despite Chalmers’ excellent work as Treasurer, the Budget will show a return in the second half of this year to higher inflation.

The RBA, despite making one of the most partisan decisions ever to cut interest rates to benefit Michele Bullock’s Labor mates, even admits that small cut was the last for the foreseeable future.

Employment and inflation data released just days after the RBA February meeting showed the RBA should have held the line, if they were truly independent.

So there is nothing but grief for Labor to have a March Budget. It would simply crystallise the cost-of-living pain Aussies will continue to suffer throughout 2025.

Labor would also have to bring to book where they were getting the money from for all their already announced election promises.

Albanese has splashed $31.25b in new spending since January 1, even as Labor’s vote continues to slide south.

Labor is doing its darndest to buy love with a fistful of fifties.

It knows that if the election is a referendum on cost of living, it will lose. If it can make it a referendum on Peter Dutton, they could limp back in minority.

The election date is one of the few levers that Albanese still has available to pull.

At least he didn’t do a Julia Gillard in following Wayne Swan’s advice to announce in January the date for their demise at a September election.

But for all the planning, spending and 60 Minutes puff pieces, this Sunday was always going to be the day to pull the trigger, following a euphoric Labor victory at WA’s State election.

In the next 24 hours, 4 million Queenslanders will know though whether they are in Cyclone Alfred’s firing line as the system is expected to hook a turn west, straight for the most populous part of the Sunshine State.

If it does hit, it could be devastating. There’s the threat to human life, and damage to property due to potential massive flooding.

Brisbane’s famous mud army of volunteers and neighbours will once again be mobilised to help each other out.

At that time it won’t matter what mud Albanese’s office is throwing politically. No PM — even one as feckless as Albanese — would dare call an election in a cyclone’s aftermath.

A week’s a long time in politics, but the next 72 hours of Cyclone Alfred may well blow Albo’s election timing sideways and demand a March Budget and a May poll.