During O-week at university, the free beer stall is always the most popular of the activities and clubs on offer, with the democracy and freedom against tyranny style clubs significantly less frequented. Who doesn’t like free beer after all?
But the themes coming up in our domestic election debate juxtaposed against the threat to the free world and democracy became spectacularly obvious this weekend outside a bar in Marrickville, a suburb in the PM’s electorate.
Standing outside a bar, Anthony Albanese announced the freezing of the indexation on beer taxes for two years. The policy is a pretty obvious pitch to beer-drinking Australians — and, let’s be frank, there are quite a few — and to the struggling hospitality sector, but timing is everything.
After what had transpired just hours before in the Oval Office, it all seemed a bit small beer.
Within hours, Peter Dutton had matched the promise. Australian domestic beer politics stops for no-one.
The Western alliance as we have known it is in an unmissable crisis, but our leaders are dancing around that reality.
They’re sending clear signals that we stand as a nation with Ukraine but not dealing with the deeper reality — the elephant in the room — that our once reliable American partner is no longer reliable in the same way. That can’t be inconsequential for our country.
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Trainwreck spat
After the announcement about the slightly cheaper beer and questions from reporters about that policy ended, the questions started — rightly — about the Trump Oval Office meltdown.
Albanese vowed Australia would continue to support Ukraine against Russia “who has acted like a bully”, but again refused to comment on the tense scenes between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the White House.
The trainwreck spat in the Oval Office sent shock waves across the world, after the US president openly berated and humiliated Zelenskyy for not being “thankful”, later accusing the Ukrainian leader of “not being ready for peace” and having “disrespected” the United States in the “cherished Oval Office”.
Albanese’s language around Russia and Ukraine was tougher than we’d heard in the past few weeks. He called Russia a bully and was unequivocal in his condemnation of Russia. Zelenskyy thanked him on X as he pointedly thanked scores of foreign leaders who stood by him and his country. It is important that we are on this list.
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No-one willing to admit world order appears to be on fire
Trump’s gaslighting of Ukraine and its leader — his false equivalence between Russia and Ukraine’s fighting — is effectively similar to telling a woman who is being beaten by her husband and fights back that she is responsible for the violence because she isn’t prepared to sit there and take it. It is absurd yet here we are, pretending that our alliance is in normal shape at a time when this kind of gaslighting continues.
The ongoing reluctance to comment on Trump specifically has a logical base.
Albanese doesn’t want to be dragged into a spat with Trump, especially as he waits for an exemption on tariffs. But on the cusp of an election, many Australians would be looking for stronger signs that we think Trump’s alignment with anti-democratic states such as Russia is alarming.
We have become experts at talking about our belief in the rules-based order but we seem unable to publicly admit that that world order seems to be on fire.
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No prize for looking fearful
Trump’s alignment with Russia and degradation of the Ukrainian leader changes the dynamic and should force our leaders to be clearer in their language and less fearful of the consequences.
There is no domestic political prize for looking fearful of Trump. Peter Dutton has used his position as opposition leader — which means he is less scrutinised in Washington — to be more direct in his criticism of Trump on Ukraine but both leaders are stuck in the old paradigm that the US is reliable and will deliver when we need them.
Voters will be watching the train crash in the Oval Office and the emergency meetings overseas and wondering if they are right.
Yesterday marked the prime minister’s 62nd birthday and this weekend was the 29th anniversary since he was elected to parliament.
Regardless of the result of this election, this is likely to be Albanese’s last dance at a campaign. Standing firm on Trump is becoming imperative for political leaders who take the rules and democracy seriously.
Patricia Karvelas is presenter of ABC TV’s Q+A, host of ABC News Afternoon Briefing at 4pm weekdays on ABC News Channel, co-host of the weekly Party Room podcast with Fran Kelly and host of politics and news podcast Politics Now.
