I did like the political switcheroos for the Ryan campaign launches - the ALP has champagne a flowing at the St Lucia Golf Links club, and the Libs drink water at the Jindalee bowls club. But if that's typical of the campaign, the ALP are playing up to the electorate, and could win. This was by no means the intention. Howard's chances of getting any concrete policy statements out of Beazley are now zip. As long as he keeps to attacking the government and vague policy directions, he's home and hosed.
Labor is now in a brilliant position.
Not only did the Liberals introduce it, meaning they'll take the flack, the version of GST they brought in is such a total dog that it's universally hated. If the next election sees Labor in with a clear majority, they tweak it so it works better and keep the revenue. After all, this is a well-informed and literate group. Frankly I'm not convinced that the insiders at Labor HQ are any wiser, indeed they may well be far off our pace. Communications, say, or defence.