He thinks the Liberals have greedy eyes for Labor's planned scholarships for maths, IT and science teachers. In an era where differences between parties are often blurred, the market in initiatives is highly competitive. That is both a convenient line and a recognition that Labor can't allow itself to be labelled fiscally irresponsible. Thanks to the Howard Government's charter of budget honesty we will not see a repeat of the 1996 campaign where both sides knew the fiscal projections were nonsense but accepted them anyway for their own reasons. There are lots of other things that we don't know about a Beazley Government.
Labor is at present doing very well on negatives.
But, even with polls indicating that Beazley's chances of winning are good, Labor accepts it must put a positive program and not expect to coast in on anti-Government feeling. Despite Government taunts, this is sensible - provided the work is being done behind the scenes. And with the Olympics providing a natural mid-term break in everyone's political attention, initiatives released too early would be lost. There is one qualification. Beazley needs some policy traction then.