‘Oh, how the mighty have fallen!’ is an old saying that comes to mind when one reflects on the fortunes of the Federal Government over the past few months. After the euphoric highs Albo & Co experienced from May 2022 until the ‘Voice’ referendum on October 12, 2023, it is amazing at the speed of the collapse in popularity and trust that it has suffered in the ensuing weeks with the electorate.

It would seem that that collapse was largely a result of the Prime Minister’s hubris. Buoyed by his resounding electoral victory in May 2022, he appears to have an obsession with making history. From being the first Prime Minister to have a referendum passed without bipartisan support, to visiting Beijing on the 50th Anniversary of Gough Whitlam’s historic visit with Mao Tse-tung. Given his recent collapse in the polls he could unwittingly emulate Gough and Scullin in becoming leader of a one-term Labor government.

Albo has always been a staunch member of the Socialist Left of the ALP. From about a year before his election victory in 2022 until recently he has managed to keep his leftist reality disguised behind a cloak of competent management. The Voice referendum was the tipping point and the fall in trust and public support has been exponential. Mind you, his Cabinet seemed to have rushed to join in the rot, while Airbus Albo has sulked in his overseas expeditions.

There has been the farcical handling of the Israel/Hamas conflict and the pro-Palestinian anti-Semitic demonstrations. The failure to prepare appropriate legislation for the High Court verdict in the NZYQ case which was foreshadowed by Justice Gleeson’s comments some months earlier along with concern from the press. Albo stubbornly refused to bring in legislation urged by Peter Dutton and the Opposition.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for Albo and the government, Albo trotted off to Apec and in his absence the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and the ALP did a deal with Dutton to bring in legislation which Dutton had amended so as to strengthen it. Then, when they introduced new legislation to try to deal with the released individuals, Dutton objected to it not being strong enough. Johannes Leak had an apt and hilarious cartoon in the Australian where in the first half he had a dark shadow of a man with an ‘NZYQ’ T-shirt and in the second half a cartoon caricature of Minister of Home Affairs Clare O’Neil in a T-shirt emblazoned with the letters ‘NFI’.

When the Opposition consequently called for Albo to sack O’Neil and Giles, the three of them went to ground. In the interim, five of those who were released have since been re-arrested. The Ministers stayed silent until Wednesday December 6, when, even though Albo was not to be seen, the Attorney General was paraded out in front of a Press Conference with Ministers O’Neil and Giles. When a Sky News Australia reporter asked should the government apologise to those members of the Australian public who were the victims of these alleged offences, Minister O’Neil responded by saying words to the effect that we were following the orders of the High Court. As she finished her answer, the Attorney General Mark Dreyfus jumped in by saying words to the effect why would we apologise for following the direction of the High Court? Adding, with obvious annoyance in his voice, that the question was absurd. That old saying, methinks he protests too much, resonated. One can imagine the reaction of the mainstream media if a Coalition front bencher like Dutton, Morrison, or Abbott ever spoke like that to a female ABC reporter in a Press Conference.

To muddy the waters further we had the Minister for tilting at Windmills flying off in a RAAF private jet with his 48 essential advisors to Dubai for his COP28 Conference. Their carbon footprint was not mentioned anywhere. Unfortunately, they didn’t need to refuel at Munich where a number of the delegates had their private jets frozen to the tarmac in the ice. He was appropriately welcomed at COP28 by the President advising that fossil fuels were essential for a reliable power supply in the future and also 22 of the largest economies including the USA, Britain, and France resolving to triple their nuclear generation to assist with clean reliable energy in the future.

It seems unless there is a drastic change in political circumstances the downward trend in the polls will continue and Albatross Albo and his band of merry men will have the electorate humming the song:

‘Save me, save me from tomorrow,
I don’t want to sail on this ship of fools.’

Whatever happens at least Mr 39 per cent can console himself that after his referendum achievements, he will always be remembered for being on the Left side of history.