Selling a complicated federal budget isn’t exactly child’s play, but Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers could do worse than following the example of their colleague’s toy giraffe and zebra to help explain their contentious tax changes. The budget fight is dominating parliament and Senate estimates, but it’s being fought just as fiercely online.
The weapons of choice? Memes, fluffy animals and a questionable reference to a serial killer cannibal.
Some Labor MPs are quietly concerned they’re losing the public debate, warning of scare campaigns getting “out of hand” and that the government doesn’t “necessarily have a clear strategy on complicated issues”. Polling shows Labor’s key budget measures have so far failed to win over Australians, with many holding significant doubts the changes will make things better.
Albanese and Chalmers, at times, have been visibly tetchy at the public focus on business taxes and trusts. The government wants to drag the debate back to their preferred ground, housing and intergenerational equity.
Enter: Giraffe and Zebra. “I’m going to talk about negative gearing and capital gains tax the way that I would to my toddler,” the Labor senator Ellie Whiteaker says down the barrel of the camera, breaking down the proposal with the tone of a preschool teacher explaining that one plus one equals two.