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At first, it felt like deja vu, that unsettling feeling I'd been here before. The first time, I shook it off. Just the brain's temporal and frontal lobes in a tussle, tying to make sense of something misremembered. But then it kept happening.
By the weekend, I knew it wasn't deja vu. It was the sound of a broken record.
Border security was back on the turntable after a group of arrivals was deposited by boat on a remote corner of Western Australia. And once again, a Liberal leader was being admonished for making theatre of it.
We'd been here before. On election day, 2022, 1.06pm, to be precise.
That's when Scott Morrison was asked in a polling day media scrum about reports of an illegal boat arrival. Confirming it an utterly transparent pitch for his border security credentials, he absurdly claimed that voting Liberal was the only way to ensure more boats didn't arrive.
At 1.09pm, a statement confirming the arrival went live on the Australian Border Force website.
By 11pm that night, Morrison had conceded defeat.
In the days following, it emerged ministerial pressure had been brought to bear on the ABF to announce the arrival, clearly for political purposes. The pressure had come from the Prime Minister's Office, from the very man who's always insisted he didn't talk about operational matters.
On the weekend, it was Dutton making boat arrival politics (this time ahead of the Dunkley byelection), raising the ire of the bloke who runs Operation Sovereign Borders. Rear-Admiral Brett Sonter warned that an "alternate narrative" about the status of Operation Sovereign Borders would be exploited by people smugglers.
If those same people had their eyes on Parliament last week, they'd have been fuelling up the boats - and not because of the insipid answers offered up by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.
They'd have been listening to Peter Dutton, Dan Tehan and all the other opposition MPs who didn't let up on Giles, painting him as weak and inept. You couldn't send a clearer signal to the criminals, even if your intention was to reach a domestic audience.
Border security is not the only greatest hit the opposition has been thrashing to death lately.
Somehow, the long-overdue fuel efficiency standards have morphed into a "ute tax" and Labor is once again "coming for the weekend".
Even Tony Abbott's mangled carbon tax declaration - "Dead, buried, cremated" - was reprised by Dutton when the government announced its changes to the stage three tax cuts.
Albanese's leadership would be "dead, buried, cremated", Dutton said before voting for the changes a couple of weeks later. (Ever since Abbott uttered the phrase, I've wondered how something dead could be buried and cremated.)
If anything, Albanese's enjoyed a political resurrection since his tax cuts U-turn.
Dutton, however, seems perpetually bruised.
Like a country radio station playing nothing but the hits from the '70s and wondering why its ratings are falling, the opposition needs new material if it wants people to listen. But it needs to take care with what it chooses to run with and how.
Dutton has shrugged off the ABF rebuke but he's playing a perilous game. If he broadcasts to the world that the government has lost control of the borders - which it hasn't, the latest arrivals are now on Nauru and have no chance of settling here - he risks inviting the world in through the back door.
That's a deja vu none of us want.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Is there a risk Dutton's boat arrivals rhetoric will encourage people smugglers? Is there better material the Opposition should run with? Is it possible to bury something that's dead and cremate it at the same time? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Nationals leader David Littleproud has declared he supports his "mortified" deputy Perin Davey "wholeheartedly" in the wake of controversy over the NSW senator stumbling over words at a Senate committee hearing after attending a drinks function at Parliament.
- A review to work out appropriate levels of resourcing, including staffing, in federal parliamentary offices has been revealed as new figures show a marked increase in Albanese government staffing since last October, including for the Prime Minister.
- If you think about the stereotype of an Australian who smokes cigarettes, perhaps someone less-educated, unemployed and suffering poor mental health springs to mind. A new study from the Australian National University delving into the population of people who smoke has found that most people who smoke are actually educated, employed and in good mental health.
THEY SAID IT: "Fear requires belief that you will be harmed, and it is easily manipulated by rhetoric." - Martha Nussbaum
YOU SAID IT: The exodus of young people from Sydney to the regions might be the decentralisation successive governments have craved. But there will be a cost.
Belinda writes: "I live in regional NSW with many mines in the area. The prices of buying and renting is ridiculous and forcing older people out. Due to tourism, a lot of rentals are being turned into Airbnbs, making even less rentals available. We have solar farms being built with no accommodation available for the workers. Regional, although we have no apartments, is getting as bad as the city in some areas."
"I spent all my business life in the real estate and building industries since 1957 until I retired in 2000," writes Frank. "I have witnessed every boom and bust in the housing market since. The thing that is different in the current crisis is never talked about, the huge increase in the cost of a building lot. Land now represents 60 per cent of the cost of a home, up from 10-15 per cent in 1999. On my retirement I purchased a 750 square metre lot in Nelson Bay for $8000 and built my home. Now this land, if vacant, would sell for some $800,000-plus. Research has shown that the major developers are sitting on land banks of approved land sufficient to cover 12 years of sales but restrict supply to maintain prices. In the 1990s when this happened the government through Landcom went into the development business and produced lots at reduced prices to curb prices for first home builders. Until this happens again the only hope for someone under 40 is a one child family in a concrete box."
Elaine writes: "I don't blame the people flooding out of Sydney and filling up the regions, but our planners don't seem to be recognising that they bring problems with them when they venture inland. Water sustainability is a huge future problem as more and more people hook up to the water supply. In the last drought, many regional towns came close to running out of water, despite severe water restrictions. Without some major water sustainability projects, this nightmare could easily become a reality, as the demand grows ever greater."
"Sadly, Sydney's 'primacy' and the state governments who maintain it, have refused, not failed, to plan and deliver," writes Brad. "Unfortunately, NSW Premier Chris Minns' new housing policy will not help because it is a one-size-fits-all solution being rolled out across the state. So the worst features impacting Sydney are being demanded of all the towns and cities irrespective of their resource standard, not just raising their prices ahead of the population. It's Sydney-centrism from a Planning Minister who actually comes from a regional area. Wollongong is NOT part of Sydney!"
Terry writes: "I hate to admit it but Bob Carr was right. Sydney is full. Too many people and there has been a lack of planning. My son and family have moved up the coast and out of Sydney. The grew up in Sydney's upper north. Absolutely ridiculous prices and no real lifestyle. They can now take the family for a walk along the local beach after school. It's fabulous for them, especially as he was offered a good job. They now have a better chance of saving for a house and family friendly lifestyle. Life will be about enjoying living and not all about your mortgage."
Growing up in Sydney, Sue loved the place. Not so much now, though. She writes: "When travelling north from Canberra, I might even head west first, anything to avoid being anywhere near Sydney. Even driving through is not a pleasant experience. Bob Carr was probably right. I would say that Canberra is close to being full as well, but there are lots of NSW towns which may benefit from additional families, as well as families which may benefit from the move. It would be good to see the necessary health and other service facilities being developed in regional NSW which should follow, the lack of which was highlighted during COVID."
"The downside of big city life, Sydney in particular, is the fact that it takes two hours to get from one part to another," writes Anita. "With a combination of driving to the station, train travel and walking I should hit my destination in Pitt Street an hour and a half after leaving home in the morning. This would be longer if I caught a bus to the station."
Paul writes: "You're absolutely right on city v country living. We have places in Canberra and rural NSW. We kept the Canberra connection because of our kids, but also remained loyal to our Canberra doctors, vet and car servicing - but I am having a rethink. We have used most of these services both in our local rural town and Canberra in recent months - and the contrast is remarkable. We get much better service from our local rural town than in Canberra. We can get appointments, they don't make as many mistakes, and they are incredibly helpful, caring, and go above and beyond for the amount charged. We are also more a part of the community than we ever were in Canberra. For those whose jobs allow it, it is certainly worthy considering."