Australia news live: ‘arrogance’ cost Coalition power in 2022, Howard says; $843m remote services funding for Indigenous communities

Anthony Albanese to make announcement in Alice Springs Friday morning. Follow the latest news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAs his latest successor as Liberal party leader plots his strategy to win power this year, the former prime minister, John Howard, has advised Peter Dutton and other centre-right politicians to make sure they can deliver on the key promise of less tax and less government.Writing in the UK Daily Telegraph, Howard ruminates on the difficulty faced by parties to attract support from young people in the face of a challenge from the populist right, and the challenge of finding new members in an age where people have stopped “being joiners”.It’s a huge mistake for a centre-Right party to assume that a disgruntled conservative has “nowhere else to go”. That arrogant attitude cost the Liberal party in Australia dear in the 2022 election. In the UK they now have Reform to go to.These are the invariable default definitions trotted out. Yet the reality often falls short, and that creates a credibility deficit. The voting public will no longer accept the excuse that taxes would be higher under leftwing governments as a substitute for actual tax relief under conservative ones.Central to the success of future centre-right governments will be their capacity to actually deliver on tax and smaller government – and not just talk.Australians want to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Australians believe in the fair go.The task before us is to build a future in which all Australians have access to the same opportunities. Continue reading...

Australia news live: ‘arrogance’ cost Coalition power in 2022, Howard says; $843m remote services funding for Indigenous communities

Anthony Albanese to make announcement in Alice Springs Friday morning. Follow the latest news live

As his latest successor as Liberal party leader plots his strategy to win power this year, the former prime minister, John Howard, has advised Peter Dutton and other centre-right politicians to make sure they can deliver on the key promise of less tax and less government.

Writing in the UK Daily Telegraph, Howard ruminates on the difficulty faced by parties to attract support from young people in the face of a challenge from the populist right, and the challenge of finding new members in an age where people have stopped “being joiners”.

It’s a huge mistake for a centre-Right party to assume that a disgruntled conservative has “nowhere else to go”. That arrogant attitude cost the Liberal party in Australia dear in the 2022 election. In the UK they now have Reform to go to.

These are the invariable default definitions trotted out. Yet the reality often falls short, and that creates a credibility deficit. The voting public will no longer accept the excuse that taxes would be higher under leftwing governments as a substitute for actual tax relief under conservative ones.

Central to the success of future centre-right governments will be their capacity to actually deliver on tax and smaller government – and not just talk.

Australians want to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Australians believe in the fair go.

The task before us is to build a future in which all Australians have access to the same opportunities. Continue reading...