The federal government is still feeling the warm inner glow after the Jobs and Skills Summit, which was the first public display of the consensus politics the Prime Minister talked about during the federal election campaign. And getting corporate, union and political leaders together is no mean feat: agreement is the harder part though, and it seemed to work out well.

But now the difficult part – the Budget. Anthony Albanese has been pushing out the messages that we’re in difficult economic circumstances and because there’s a trillion dollar national government deficit, high inflation and a wide range of other economic issues, the Budget will be a particularly harsh one. Governments accumulate baggage as time goes on – that’s the nature of politics – and how they manage the October Budget will determine the rest of this term of Parliament.

The media has never supported union action – even when there’s a just cause – they’ve always depicted any form of action as moves by ungrateful and greedy workers – forced upon by the also greedy unions – greatly inconveniencing the public. And, of course, this theme is also pushed by the Liberal Party, with their rhetoric of “union thugs” and making it seem as those unionists and workers are soiling the wheels of capitalism and affecting the wellbeing of the economy.

Yes, a one-day strike is an inconvenience to the public – but low pay and poor working conditions are an inconvenience to workers every single day of the year. Union bashing isn’t good for anyone and it’s a pity the journalists who rail against unions don’t understand where their sick pay, holiday pay, higher wages, leave entitlements and working conditions, came from. A clue: it’s not from the goodwill of their employers.

And the unbridled ambitions of Scott Morrison have resulted in another victim: the Governor–General, David Hurley. It seems his silence on the secret ministries he signed off on for Morrison did have a price: $18 million, in the form of some kind of obscure leadership program. We’re not suggesting any corruption here, but it does seem like it. The Governor–General does have some questions to answer.

The poor opinion polls are continuing for the Liberal Party – this is not the end; we’re only four months into this parliamentary term, but it’s an Opposition with few redeeming features and seemingly bereft of ideas. Using “Kermit the Frog” to lampoon Albanese is their idea of a political strategy, and if this continues, it’s not going to end well for the Liberal Party. And of top of this, there are Pentecostal groups who are seizing control of branches in Victoria and South Australia.

It seems like a long hard road ahead for the Liberal Party.