JENI O’DOWD: Voters aren’t buying what the Albanese Government is selling ahead of 2025 Federal election

The most frustrating thing about elections?

Governments start campaigning long before they announce the date.

Anthony Albanese is no different. Over the past month, his pre-election promises have included everything from reducing the cost of draught beer to pledging $1 billion for a rail link in southwest Sydney — a move some local leaders criticised as “half-baked” and election-driven.

The second most frustrating thing about elections is that so-called political experts are always eager to declare the outcome before a single vote is cast.

This time, the verdict is apparently settled: Albanese will be back in a hung parliament.

But can anyone remember 1993, when Paul Keating defied the polls and stunned the nation? Or 2019, when Scott Morrison pulled off the so-called “miracle” win? Political predictions are often as reliable as a horoscope.

The real question isn’t what the polls say — it’s whether voters are buying what Albanese is selling.

And I don’t think they are. Electricity prices are about to rise — again. Private health insurance premiums are already unaffordable for many and set to increase. People are either drowning in mortgage repayments or can’t find a place to rent. Young couples are putting off having kids because they simply can’t afford it.

And it’s not just the big expenses. Even the basics are a stretch. A punnet of fresh strawberries costs nearly $4 at the supermarket. An ordinary steak will set you back $8.50 and even bread — a staple for all families — is more than $4 a loaf.

The cost-of-living crisis is a daily reality for millions of Australians — and they want relief.

With predictions of a hung parliament, it’s clear the shine is finally coming off the Greens. After years of posturing as the party of compassion, their hypocrisy is finally catching up with them.

While the Greens increased their primary vote and secured more seats in the recent WA State election, their overall momentum varies across Australia.

No amount of last-minute spending promises or a Federal Budget packed with handouts, rebates, and cost-of-living sweeteners can erase three years of economic pain.

In last year’s Queensland State election, the Greens failed to gain any new seats and faced potential losses. Last month, the Liberal Party’s Rachel Westaway defeated the Greens’ candidate, Angelica Di Camillo, in a by-election in the Victorian State seat of Prahran.

This outcome marked a significant and welcome shift, as the Greens had held Prahran since 2014

These mixed results suggest that while Greens’ support grows in some areas, their broader appeal may finally plateau. It seems idealistic slogans just don’t help pay the bills.

Meanwhile, Labor is stuck between appeasing the inner-city progressives who want more taxes and regulation, and the suburban voters who just want to make ends meet.

The result? A government that talks a lot but delivers little. And with an election looming, Albanese’s sudden burst of spending promises looks less like leadership and more like sheer desperation.

Voters have seen this trick before, and the real question is whether they’ll fall for it again.

Right now, Albanese is hoping that Peter Dutton’s supposed “unelectability” will save him — but, again, history suggests that’s a dangerous bet.

I was a political journalist covering State and Federal politics for over a decade. If there’s one thing I’ve heard in every election cycle, it’s that the opposition leader is either unelectable or unpopular — or both.

It was said about Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison, and even the great John Howard before 1996. But here’s the thing: oppositions don’t win elections — governments lose them.

Opposition leaders are almost always seen as the underdog — until they win. Tony Abbott was seriously unpopular right up until he won in 2013. Scott Morrison wasn’t exactly beloved when he stood against Bill Shorten in 2019, but he didn’t have to be — Shorten was more unpopular, and voters turned against Labor.

Right now, Albanese’s government is doing everything it can to pretend things are under control. It is making spending promises in the hope that voters will overlook the fact that many cannot afford to pay their bills or even have a simple cup of coffee while watching their kids play Saturday sports.

No amount of last-minute spending promises or a Federal Budget packed with handouts, rebates, and cost-of-living sweeteners can erase three years of economic pain.

Voters are not stupid. They know exactly what’s going on. It’s the politicians who seem to forget.