Jacinta Nampijinpa Price should be the Leader of the Opposition, if for no other reason than she rubs the media the wrong way and prompts the Labor Party to make fools of themselves.
She is the reason Peter Dutton managed to gain political traction from the ‘No’ side of the Voice to Parliament referendum and, because the press is obsessed with identity politics and victimhood, she is able to run circles around them on Indigenous Affairs – a necessary talent.
Unfortunately, her natural success appears to be continuously suffocated by out-of-touch, overly sensitive, Trump-phobic Liberal Party advisors. At least, I hope that’s the fault.
The Make Australia Great Again saga over the weekend was a perfect example of near brilliance that saw the Labor Party worker ants and their comrade-elite publicly argue against making Australia ‘great’ and in favour of protecting government inefficiency, corruption, and waste.
Not a good campaign line.
For example, Victorian Labor said: ‘Breaking: Jacinta Price said the quiet part out loud. We can’t risk DOGE-style cuts.’
Amazing.
It was an extraordinary narrative fumble from Labor.
A party on the nose for its spending disasters during a cost-of-living crisis comes out waving the red flag of the Big State…
A party whose Climate Change Minister was outed for his $260,000 travel bill only last week.
The headlines were sitting there, waiting to write themselves.
Easy votes.
Oh well… Here is how the missed opportunity unfolded.
‘We can Make Australia Great Again!’ said Ms Price. ‘…bring Australia back to its former glory that we can get Australia back on track!’
Shortly after a reporter asked, ‘Is that an ode to Donald Trump?’
To which she replied (looking horrified), ‘No! If I said that, I don’t even realise I said that. But no. I’m an Australian and I want to ensure that we get Australia back on track.’
Come on, Ms Price, don’t be like that. A simple, ‘Heck yeah!’ would have been sufficient. You were wearing a MAGA hat on Christmas Day. What happened?
Dutton’s entire portfolio gift to Ms Price is modelled on DOGE. Would Dutton have come up with an Australian DOGE on his own? Of course not. How do we know? Because they have never done it. Denying Trump’s influence is a confusing side-step designed to lure independent voters back while scratching the ears of party wets who hate Trump. It is a tactic doomed to upset everyone.
‘Let me just clarify, the Department of Government Efficiency, it’s not a department. It’s got nothing to do with the department. In fact, it will sit [with] the Prime Minister and Cabinet. And just to clarify, it is not an ode to Donald Trump,’ said Ms Price.
What? DOGE is not a nod to DOGE? Please…
Conservative commentators are wondering why the Liberals are slipping off what they thought was the unlosable election. This might be hint.
Peter Dutton did not help when he was given an opportunity to repair the situation.
‘Do you back your Senator’s comment this morning? Do you want to make Australia Great Again?’ asked a reporter.
Come on, Mr Dutton. This is not a trap. This is an opportunity. Don’t trip on your paranoia…
‘I want to get rid of a bad government. That’s what I want to do.’
Urgh.
For the record, ‘Make Australia Great Again’ is a much better slogan than ‘Back on Track’. Australia has been ‘off track’ for so long that there are two whole generations of voters who do not remember what a ‘good’ Australia looks like.
This might come as a shock to politicians who have been living in the Canberra bubble for 30 or 40 years, but young adults have no idea what conservative nostalgia looks like. They were born after the millennium. Terrifying, I know. You have to paint a picture of the future, not hark back to the past. Donald Trump knew that, which is why he won the youth vote.
The Liberals do not have to agree with everything Donald Trump is doing, but they can still safely steal the good bits.
And someone needs to apply duct-tape to the Leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud. He was bad before, but now he is about as welcome as a parking inspector. Calling Ms Price’s words a ‘slip of the tongue’ makes the party look careless and weak.
‘This is an impromptu speech … you’ve got a whole lot of words going around your head, she inadvertently made these comments … it’s nothing about trying to channel Trump at all … we all make slips during the campaign. This was an inadvertent one by Jacinta.’
Go away, Littleproud.
The Liberals cannot run this election by trying to please every corner of the broad church. Stop listening to your advisors and start listening to the public. Social media is a giant, free, enormous focus group. Get online and start scrolling. You’ll soon see what the public wants.
Flat White is written by Alexandra Marshall. If you would like to support her work, shout her a coffee over at donor-box.