Political

ANDREW CARSWELL: Forget the wondrous trappings of government office for a minute, the power, the glory. Right now, for incumbents, life isn’t grand. It is limited, and spiralling to a quick end.

THE FRONT DORE: Here’s the speech Anthony Albanese should have delivered today, 12 months on from the October 7 atrocities — instead of the cliches, glib lines and bureaucratic words he actually delivered.

CAMERON MILNER: Anthony Albanese is chronically weak as a politician, repeatedly under-performs and constantly disappoints. And his weakness on Israel has given succour to extremists living in Australia.

PAUL MURRAY: Anthony Albanese’s Government is waging war on Woolies and Coles, but what about petrol prices?

MARK RILEY: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is dispensing with any subtlety or nuance on the Middle East. He is going for the political jugular. It is what he does. And it works for him.

MICHAEL USHER: Don’t think for a second our leaders aren’t watching Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s White House race to see what concerns voters most - but are Aussie voters in lock-step with the Yanks?

CAMERON MILNER: Ronald Reagan had a great saying: ‘When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat’. Well, Chalmers is bringing that heat and now breathing down Albo’s neck.

SIMON BIRMINGHAM: It is easy for some to become complacent or disinterested when the Middle East edges closer to war. But our PM needs to be clear about the threat of Iran now more than ever.

JENI O’DOWD: From pushing for wealth redistribution through taxes on inheritance to land taxes that risk penalising everyday Aussies, the Greens are treading closer to socialism than they might like to admit.

DAVID PATRIKARAKOS: It’s deja vu in the Middle East. Once more, Iran strikes Israel. Once more, the Israeli Defense Force marches across the border.

The longer Anthony Albanese decries the Greens’ support for riots in Melbourne and anti-Israel chants while still chasing the minor party’s votes, the greater the insult to middle Australia.

SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Does the Chinese government or military see Australia as an enemy? That is a key question that follows the release by China of a propaganda video using that description.

PAUL MURRAY: The Federal Government’s ever-worsening relationship with the Greens is there for all to see and will have ramifications for the election.

MICHELLE ROWLAND: Seriously harmful misinformation and disinformation spreads at speed and scale across the digital world and research shows a growing number of Aussies are concerned. The time to act is now.

Vice President Kamala Harris had two jobs heading into the debate, and she largely succeeded at both.