Mr Morrison’s Anxious Christmas Break

It seems the Morrison government would like to campaign on three issues at the looming election, whenever that might be: the economy, lowering power prices, and border protection.

As regards the economy, the government has some runs on the board – reasonable growth, good unemployment numbers and a projected return to surplus. Trouble is, none of these seem to be cutting through with the voting public.  One of Tony Abbott’s three campaign issues was to get the nation’s books back in order by restoring the surplus and reining in debt.  His first, possibly overly ambitious, budget was met with fierce resistance.  I get the impression that this current generation of voters doesn’t care much about debt and deficit, so I’m inclined to believe Abbott was elected on the strength of his two other planks.

Why should Morrison fare any better, especially with a sinking housing market and the concomitant “wealth effect” reversing itself in the public mind? When home owners see their…