Albanese and Chalmers: spat or mid-term slump?

Good afternoon.

When things are going bad for governments, they have a tendency to get worse.

With One Nation surging in the polls, interest rates at a 15-year high, and unemployment and house prices going in the wrong direction, the last thing Labor needed was a sitting week where rumours of internal discontent became the story.

The frustration has been visible on the faces of Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers for some time, and it is matched by Labor MPs desperately seeking a vibe shift in Canberra.

Was Jim Chalmers rolled by Albanese?

Things got worse on Tuesday when Albanese, either deliberately or not, undercut his treasurer.

What should have been a small political spot fire – the backlash against the tax office’s moves to ban credit card payments for tax debts – has turned into a major irritant for Labor.

Last week, after days of criticism that the plan would hurt small business operators who use credit card payments as a cashflow tool, Chalmers announced the government had changed course.

But last night, it was Albanese who took the credit.

He let it be known that the head of the business lobby group had approached him personally to resolve the issue days earlier.

This morning, Chalmers faced questions about whether he’d been rolled by Albanese.

‘Kicking with the wind in the fourth quarter’

Tensions between prime ministers and treasurers are hardly a new phenomenon, and the current difficulties are not being viewed internally as anything more than a manifestation of growing political pressure on the government. Albanese and Chalmers are significantly invested in each other’s success.

The PM tried to clean up the comments in question time, highlighting the role of Chalmers and other ministers in coming to the final decision, but questions about the state of their working relationship remain.

Earlier in the week, Albanese told Labor’s caucus the government would be “kicking with the wind in the fourth quarter” – the period immediately before the next election. But some caucus members note the last time he used the line was when Labor looked to be in serious electoral trouble.

Albanese and Chalmers need to get on the same page, and might move to reassure anxious colleagues that they have a plan to improve the economy and make households feel more secure ahead of the election.

That’s the Canberra vibe shift the Labor caucus is desperately seeking.

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The communications minister, Anika Wells, will address the National Press Club tomorrow from 12.30pm.

Wells is speaking about the government’s proposed digital duty of care bill, which she will introduce earlier in the morning. The bill is likely to be referred to a Senate inquiry, with the Greens and Coalition – for different reasons – keen to kick the tyres a bit. The Coalition wants to kill the bill (the political right are casting it as censorship), while the Greens are broadly supportive, though want to take a closer look before they vote for it. Wells in question time today said there had been “miscommunication online” about what the digital duty of care would do, saying it would seek to address gender-based violence, pro-terror material, child sexual abuse material, and death and rape threats. At this stage, the bill is still expected to pass into law by year’s end.