Ah, the lucky country… While we try to bring you the week in fast forward, Labor was hell-bent on putting their policy goals in reverse.

I get in trouble if I miss my mark backing the truck into a loading dock. Big trouble. When Labor dings the side of our country on a brick wall or knocks over a sacred cultural statue, there is zero accountability. Jim Chalmers should try using his mirrors once in a while before he hits something that tears the wheels off.

And it was a big week for damages.

Housing? Going backwards. Debt? $1 trillion next financial year. Immigration? Doors are open. Productivity? Stalled. Interest rates and inflation? About to take another bite. And while Trump puts in a support call for allies, we skulk away like cowards.

These failures are repackaged as positives instead of accidental damage accumulated by an L-driver.

If you blinked after last week’s jerry can diplomacy and Albo’s national roof rack amnesty bins, you missed the political class discovering that voters aren’t just grumpy, they’re rewriting the script. The two-party system? That appears to be in big trouble after Saturday’s Nepean byelection. Yes, Liberal Anthony Marsh won … but One Nation pulled 24.7% of the primary vote and came in second with a fresh-faced candidate in a rushed election in the socialist landscape of Victoria. This is a much bigger story than the headlines would have you believe.

As my editor said, people aren’t angry with the Coalition anymore. They’ve given up on them. The best the Nationals leader can come up with is mean tweets directed at Pauline Hanson which have backfired in the comment section.

Stepping back from domestic politics, it was a grand week for empires.

King Charles attempted to patch-up Keir Starmer’s many micro-aggressions against the US by gifting President Trump the original bell from the HMS Trump during a state visit.

A bell with history, humour and meaning. ?????

At the White House State Dinner, His Majesty King Charles III presented President Trump with the original bell from HMS Trump, a British submarine launched in 1944 during the Second World War.

Once hung on the submarine’s conning… pic.twitter.com/oAdr45L5FS

— British Embassy Washington (@UKinUSA) April 29, 2026

It was a warm personal touch in what looks like a genuine bromance. Just give us a ring! has been doing the rounds while, no doubt, the rest of the European Union is digging through their war archives trying to find something with Trump’s name on it.

Germany is in particular trouble, with the US Defence Department about to withdraw 5,000 troops in retaliation for being humiliated during negotiations with Iran. There are 36,000 US troops in Germany. FAFO is no longer a meme, it is geopolitics.

Also, the Union Jack was flown upside down at Arlington (a classic gaffe), but perhaps it was God’s way of showing that the UK is in distress. At least Charlie’s finally got the memo that President Trump is the only world leader saving Western civilisation through bold action.

[Editor’s note: you forgot to mention the Queen and First Lady matching the colour of their outfits as a subtle sign of unity and a nod to the politics of fashion the late Queen enjoyed.]

? NOW: President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump EMERGE down the White House Grand Staircase with King Charles and Queen Camilla, for a state dinner ????

ZERO Democrats can look at this and honestly claim the Trumps haven’t brought class back to the White House! ?? pic.twitter.com/6fokR2950j

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 28, 2026

All of this means Australian Wokeness is now short-lived. The days of our politicians’ unoriginal policy grabs from the Democrats and UK Labour (think ‘shrinkflation’ and targeting subscription services) are done. Hopefully their copycat policies will come from a proper leader in Trump. Don’t like Trump? Tell me a global leader who is acting rather than just talking? Go on.

Speaking of proper leadership, Pauline Hanson will be cruising regional seats in a ‘sexy’ new private aeroplane or aka a cute little grey mosquito that will buzz next to the ear of the Guardian.

Donated by Gina Rinehart alongside other generous donations, including from Speccie writer Ian Plimer, it strongly suggests rising confidence in the party. One Nation’s primary vote is hovering at 24-27 per cent nationally, level-pegging with Labor in some surveys and outpolling the Coalition. Pauline is thriving, barnstorming the regions with anti-immigration rallies such as the one held in Canberra last weekend.

Despite removing your roof racks, checking your tyre pressure, and ditching the jerry can, the fuel crisis continues to creep along. Nothing says ‘we’ve got this’ like extending higher-sulphur petrol standards while Chris Bowen plays global scavenger hunt.

The Strait of Hormuz saga eased a tad after Trump’s ceasefire extension. Oil prices dipped, unleaded crept back toward pre-war levels, but diesel’s still trading like it’s made of unicorn tears (275c/litre average, up 40 per cent since February). The government’s secured more litres from allies, and we’re apparently ‘level 2’ on the national fuel security plan.

But we are yet to see Albanese or Bowen hop on public transport for the cause, although Albo did urge us to do so saying, ‘Be optimistic, there’s nowhere you’d rather be than Australia.’ Mate…

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is scribbling furiously ahead of the May 12 Budget. I’ll be in the lock-up again on May 12 so you don’t have to.

[Editor’s Note: Thank God.]

Jimbo’s hinting at tax tweaks. I’m wondering if I’ll survive at least seven hours in the loony bin.

One headline getting traction is the prospect of making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent for small businesses (turnover under $10 million). It would let owners immediately deduct the full cost of eligible depreciating assets, a genuine cash-flow boost for tradies, shops, and family enterprises. Chalmers is positioning this as a centrepiece of a ‘productivity package’, complete with some red-tape slashing.

But let’s not pretend this is all rainbows and lollipops. Family trusts are getting absolutely smashed in the broader reform talk.

Family trusts, capital gains tax concessions, and negative gearing (what a stupid, loaded name for the entirely legitimate practice of claiming the interest expense on capital as a genuine tax deduction, which it should be, regardless of what any Treasurer decrees) are the eternal bogeymen of the socialist left.

Imagine letting families and small business owners keep more of what they earn and build wealth across generations…

Meanwhile, the interim report into the Bondi massacre dropped like a lead balloon. Apparently, nothing could have been done to stop it — except, you know, not giving terror-adjacent rhetoric quite so much oxygen in the public square. Royal Commissions have turned into an exercise in the bleedin’ obvious.

And public commentary continued on the Anzac Day booing. Rather than shaming the public into compliance, the message appears to be that many Aussies reckon Welcome to Country has no place at Anzac services and call the ritual divisive. Australians have not been overcome with a bout of racism. They are fed up with public events turning into a lecture. The Diggers didn’t storm Gallipoli so we could argue about protocols before Lest we Forget.

What ties this week together? A nation that’s had enough of the performative virtue. A nation that sees the consequence of progressive politics everywhere, from the fuel pump to the war memorial to the ballot box.

It is time for politicians to stop lecturing and start listening.

What did you miss? Australians aren’t anti-anything. They’re pro-reality. And reality’s got a habit of punching you in the face. Only now it’s got a diesel price tag attached.

Dr Michael de Percy @FlaneurPolitiq is the Spectator Australia’s Canberra Press Gallery Correspondent. If you would like to support his writing, or read more of Michael, please visit his website.