It’s not surprising that Peter Hartcher is out of touch. In his Fairfax-protected-species-ivory-tower, where he refuses to engage with readers via social media in case he might actually learn something, once again he’s failed to realise we’ve all moved on from the bullshit ‘class war’ analogies he’s peppered his SMH column with today.
If Hartcher was paying a little more attention these last few years, rather than spending the entire term of the previous Gillard government publishing Rudd-leaks and rather than using his powerful position as political editor to commentate politics like a sporting-match, he might have realised Labor’s political narrative has shifted. This change isn’t due to the ‘media-cycle’, ‘spin’, or ‘political games’ or ‘election winning strategies’. This shift is in response to what is going on in the world, out here in reality, a reality Hartcher doesn’t seem able to understand.
As far back as 2014, the Guardian, characteristically, were way ahead of the rest of the media in reporting unequivocal statements by the IMF: inequality is bad for economic growth. Yet, two years later, Hartcher is still playing the two-horse-race game of Liberals-for-economic-growth and Labor-against-economic-growth because he just doesn’t get it. The irony of him asking Shorten for more nuance would be amusing if it weren’t so frustratingly hypocritical.
In Hartcher’s column today, his argument is that Labor has ramped up ‘anti-business-rhetoric’, which suits Shorten’s trade union background, as opposed to Turnbull’s big-business identity. Hartcher makes the point that Labor’s policies aren’t actually anti-business, but that this is what Shorten is ‘saying’ and therefore Shorten needs to stop ‘saying’ it. Note there are no quotes in the article from Shorten in response to this criticism, nor from anyone else in the united Labor opposition who are 100% on-board with Shorten’s narrative this election. Funny that.
Instead, we get, you guessed it, neoliberal ideological warrior Tony Sheppard, author of the Abbott-budget-written-by-big-business Commission of Audit saying:
‘governments need to encourage business growth because that leads to investment, jobs and the tax revenues that pay for health and education and everything else’.
Then we also get former Labor president Warren Mundine who has also in News Limited this week admitting Labor isn’t the party he used to run, which by the way Mundine, is a really good thing because you don’t understand economic growth any better than your mate Hartcher or Sheppard, saying:
‘Consider the anti-business rhetoric in this election. Past Labor leaders understood government can only create the conditions for jobs and enterprise to thrive. It’s business that generates economic growth through investment and innovation. Federal Labor don’t seem to get this’.
I will address all three of these dinosaurs’ mistakes in one statement and I’ll write it in bold in case that helps with their comprehension:
Economic growth does not pay for health and education and everything else. Health and education and everything else drives economic growth. Businesses do not generate economic growth in order to build the conditions for jobs and enterprise to thrive. Proper social investment builds the conditions for jobs and enterprise to thrive. You have everything topsy-turvy-round-the-wrong-way-you’re-so-confused-I’m-surprised-your-pants-aren’t-on-your-head-get-with-the-program-you’re-actually-hurting-the-economy-with-your-outdated-ill-conceived-attempts-at-telling-us-how-the-world-works-just-go-away. I will spell it out clearly: the conditions for economic growth are strong investment in education, health, infrastructure, a solid social-safety-net no-body-left-behind consumer-led-growth wealth-distributed-more-equally world. Businesses do not hire more people because they get tax cuts. Businesses hire more people and grow the pie when there is strong consumer base, with good health, education, strong wages and therefore available disposable income. Economic growth requires a strong society as its very foundation.
Once you understand these very simple-even-a-5-year-old-can-understand facts, your argument that Labor is anti-business because they point out this fact, actually makes Labor extremely pro-business and makes Turnbull’s tax cut at the expense of proper investment in all the things which actually help the economy a really bad thing for business. Since business is the only thing these dinosaurs care about, perhaps it’s time they did what was right for business and advocate policies which will actually help economic growth. If you haven’t noticed the damage the Liberal government has done to the economy in the last three years, well, perhaps you’re just not paying attention.
It’s because of the likes of Hartcher, Sheppard and Mundine’s misunderstanding of the world that we are in the economic mess we are now. Rising inequality hurts all of us. The IMF understands. Credible economists understand. Labor understands. But we still have too many dinosaurs who refuse to get it. I just wish these dinosaurs would hurry up to extinction so a good government can work on fixing the economy for all our benefit.
Media Inequality 
Hi Victoria from Malcolm Farr in case you have not read the article and keep up the good work. History is repeating itself for Malcolm Turnbull and it is not a pleasant return journey for the Liberal leader.
Mr Turnbullâs personal rating with voters as Prime Minister is declining at a pace matching his popularity collapse as Opposition Leader, an analysis by Newspoll pollster David Briggs shows.
And graphs plotting the two Turnbull manifestations have come together at the same low point with 11 per cent more voters questioning his performance than praising it.
The marking down of Mr Turnbull as Prime Minister is likely to be more about disappointment than hostility towards him, and there could be a reservoir of faith in the electorate that he will come good.
The two terms of Turnbull: in red (opposition leader in 2009) and now as PM (blue). Image: Supplied
Pollsters see a difference between Mr Turnbullâs problems and the animosity towards former Premier Campbell Newman at the Queensland election, and the anticipated rejection of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott had he taken the Liberals into this Federal Election.
One interpretation of the decline it is a reaction to the âwishy-washyâ tax debate earlier this year when a number of options were raised and shot down, leaving voters wondering whether Mr Turnbull operated on conviction.
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He is hoping to counter that during the election campaign by presenting âthe planâ for a strengthened economy, hoping voters will see it as a sign of strong leadership.
But the low approval figures would be a considerable concern for him and his election campaign planners.
The publicâs approval of the PM has fallen in recent months. Picture: Lukas Coch/AAP
Mr Turnbull used 30 bad Newspolls in his argument to dump Tony Abbott, and risks having a similar line used against him.
While he is going down, Labor leader Bill Shortenâs approval figures are rising.
When Mr Turnbull had net approval figures in the positive 30s late last year, Mr Shortenâs approval was in the negative 30s. Now they are both at the same disapproval point of around negative 12 per cent, the analysis shows.
The personal rating graphs of Turnbull-2009 and Turnbull-2016 are remarkably similar, Mr Briggs found from a review of net approval â the difference between approval and disapproval.
It was that big …. Mr Turnbullâs approval rating is a concern at the mid-point of this long election. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen
When he was Opposition Leader from September 2008 to December 2009 his net approval recorded by Newspoll rose to 28 per cent by late October 2009.
This was a powerful welcome from voters. But it quickly started to fade.
By mid-March 2009 Mr Turnbullâs rating crossed from net positive to net negative. Soon after he lost his job to Mr Abbott.
It was about the same point five years later Mr Turnbullâs popularity equation as Prime Minister slipped into the negative.
When he took over from Mr Abbott as Prime Minister in September last year, Mr Turnbull was given a hearty reception from voters with a net positive hitting 38 per cent in November.
But that good will disappeared until he moved into negative approval in March this year. By early May this year his negative rating was 11 per cent, the same level hit by Opposition Leader Turnbull in 2009.
Originally published as Graph that should worry Turnbull
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Kind Regards
Mal Mackenzie
Hartcher and his fellow SMH buddies Kenny and Massola are not journalists. They are propagandists for the lnp. The media is for big business and these blokes are just doing what they are told and that is to be pro lnp and anti Labor. And that is why they still have a job and the likes of Michael West, a real journalist, got the the sack.
Victoria, once again you are spot on. Really love reading your work, keep it going please.
Thanks, Liz. Our media keep on losing more and more of their followers with their less and less credible commentary.
Wealth is created when labour & capital (employer) pulls together. Both have common aim. Profit. problems come when capital believes they’re are entitled to whole pie. #auspol
Commentators across MSM keep saying PM won. Polls keep proving them lies or idiots. #auspol
Victoria …. very good …. well put. And interesting comparison in that first comment regarding the very similar decline in Malcolm’s approval ratings as both Opp Leader and now as PM …. perhaps next month will be much, much more interesting than one would have thought in December 2015!