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Political Promises
Do we really expect these people to fix issues surrounding disability?
Nic Stuart
April 01, 2025
The abilityNEWS Daily
The Sketch
Will they really?
“Behind the scenes hundreds of political staffers and operatives toil long hours in campaign headquarters. In this singularly focused world the goal is simple: win the day. Win enough days, you win the week; win enough weeks, you win the election.
Why do politicians say they can do things they can’t?
There’s reality, and there’s politics. It’s an increasingly futile exercise to see if these two very different spheres can exist in the same space and time.
The election campaign wasn’t even two full days old before we were provided with dramatic examples of both parties attempting to create their alternate versions of reality. Labor started it, pretending it could somehow bring prices down - down - down at your local supermarket.
Hadn’t they tried before?
In fact, wasn’t it just last week that, after more than 20,000 submissions and a year of investigation the ACCC’s blockbuster report produced 20 crystal-clear reforms to “provide better outcomes for consumers and suppliers”?
And haven’t there been five other similar, comprehensive, and detailed inquiries into supermarkets, pricing, and claims of “price gouging” over the past 18 months, all of which have found that while the system can be reformed around the edges there is no actual evidence of shops doing anything other than their job - trying to make a profit?
But no. Anthony Albanese says he can introduce a law eliminating unfair pricing “by the end of the year”.
And when asked what price gouging is, the PM responded “it is when supermarkets are taking the piss.”
Perhaps when politicians say they can bring prices down, down, down they are really just taking the piss out of you.
Are they really likely to have answers for complex issues like disability?
Every day during the election campaign abilityNEWS will be seeking to bring you specific insight into its progress. We will be covering both politics and disability issues using the format of a sketch - not aiming for definitive coverage but hoping to offer a glimpse of a moment in time.
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