Albo uninspiring, Dutton unconvincing as underwhelmed Aussie voters say 'meh'

We are caught in a version of that awkward Seinfeld episode we cringed through last month as Plibersek and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - longtime factional foes - tangled in a ham-fisted, half-hearted hug-turned-hokey-pokey handshake at Labor's election campaign launch in Perth.

As voters, we face the unappealing choice of Mr Albanese or Peter Dutton and neither feels deserving of our enthusiastic embrace.

So, in this uncomfortable moment, we are all Tanya - reluctantly, stand-offishly grasping for the least worst way out.

But can we really stomach blowing Albo one of those Tanya-tepid long-range air kisses?

After five weeks of campaigning, there's no getting away from it: Mr Albanese and Labor have been utterly uninspiring and Mr Dutton and the Coalition have been wholly unconvincing.

The voter perceptions both leaders and their parties have been unable to shift are that Mr Albanese is likeable but seems weak and that Mr Dutton is strong but seems unlikeable.

Many Australians who pay only minimal regard to the contest of politics and policy their local federal MP plays in Canberra were already saying "meh" about these options when the May 3 date for electing the Commonwealth's 48th parliament was set back on March 28.

Voters might reasonably have expected the leaders to use the campaign focus to make a compelling case to lead the nation for the next three years.

But that hasn't happened.

Back in February before the election was called, when we asked the audiences of the ACM network, including readers of this masthead, who they preferred as prime minister, 27 per cent of surveyed voters wished there was another option beyond Mr Albanese (38 per cent) and Mr Dutton (35 per cent).

This disenchantment had only grown by April when we asked again: 32 per cent of voters answered "I wish there was another option" as Mr Dutton went backwards (28 per cent) and Mr Albanese went nowhere (39 per cent).

Beyond the party faithful and the rusted-ons, the so-called "soft" voters who are still undecided have not seen much to like on either side.

What a dispiriting initiation into the democratic process for Australia's Gen Zs - those born between 1995 and 2010 - who are voting in a federal election for the first time and have found their TikTok feeds spammed by noisy and banal spin by politicians trying desperately to get down with the kids.

According to the Australian Electoral Commission, Gen Z and Millennials (the group born between 1980-1994) now account for 7.7 million voters combined, making them the dominant voting bloc compared to the 5.9 million Baby Boomers and 4.4 million Gen X-ers.

The 2022 federal election showed that young Australians are the most progressive-leaning, least major party-oriented and most issues-driven of today's voters.

So, what have Labor and the Liberals put forward during the campaign as plans for their future?

Short-sighted and shameless sweeteners, that's what; fiscally irresponsible vote bribes sugar-coated as cost-of-living relief but which don't provide solutions beyond the next 12 months let alone the next three years: cheaper petrol, tax cuts, early access to your superannuation to get a house deposit or cutting 20 per cent off your student debt.

Where is the vision and the ambition? On meaningful tax reform? On housing? Where is the promise of hope for that younger generation?

As PM since 2022, Mr Albanese has been uninspiring. His government has been stable but staid.

On the campaign trail, as he's toured marginal seats, Mr Albanese hasn't had any major stumbles. Except, of course, when he actually stumbled - toppling off a stage while meeting miners in the NSW Hunter Valley. His prickly and petty insistence later that this Joe Biden-esque moment wasn't a fall - in the face of footage replayed ad nauseam - said way more about Mr Albanese than the misstep itself.

For his part, Mr Dutton, after demonstrating something approximating conviction on the fraught issue of the Voice to Parliament in 2023, has been unconvincing as the alternative prime minister.

On his neverending parade of photo opportunities at petrol stations, he has appeared to run dead on his crazy-brave nuclear power play for Australia's energy future, and flip-flopped on policies like tax breaks for EVs and his seemingly Donald Trump-inspired vow to sack public servants, wind back working from home and cut immigration.

While there is not a lot of love for the Albanese government after one term, has Mr Dutton and his lacklustre shadow frontbench demonstrated to most people's satisfaction why the Coalition should be put back in charge?

Instead of highlighting Labor's flaws after three mediocre years, the Coalition's campaign confusion and contortions have exposed its own and ended up making Mr Albanese's insipid, workmanlike management look almost appealing.

For regional Australians - in hot seats and safe seats alike - there has been nothing remotely visionary or confidence-building from the major parties. The issue of housing has been more about vote-grabbing than articulating a strategy to improve affordability and availability.

Meanwhile on the fringes, the squawking Greens continue to exploit the anxiety of young voters without meaningfully collaborating on practical outcomes and the likes of Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer bellow divisive rhetoric and empty slogans.

In some local seats and Senate races, there will be merit in supporting reasonable and transparent sensible-centre Independents who speak with passion about standing up for their local community and their willingness to work with the major parties to find common ground and negotiate common-sense solutions.

That said, Australia right now cannot afford a hung parliament or a minority government. With the Trump White House's erratic incompetence fuelling global tensions and economic uncertainty, our country needs the stability of a government with a mandate to get on with the job - not one distracted and hamstrung by protracted negotiations with individual crossbenchers or minor parties.

Unfortunately, Mr Albanese has been unable to galvanise public confidence in his leadership since his Voice failure. On the Australian reverberations of Gaza and Trump, he's been timid and not exactly statesmanlike.

As prime ministers go, unlike the chapters written in history books about predecessors like Hawke and Howard, Mr Albanese will warrant only paragraphs unless he resolves to make a difference if given a second term.

There are, of course, risks in returning Labor, including more broken promises like the stage three tax cuts. And measures that punish aspiration: a unions-driven IR agenda that makes doing business even harder; a superannuation tax proposal for unrealised capital gains that has investors rightly alarmed; and the constant threat of tinkering with policy settings that support the 1.5 million Australians whose nest egg for retirement includes an investment property - a group that does not deserve to be demonised or disadvantaged in the bid to fix the housing crisis.

One potential upside of more of the same: continued progress towards more environmentally sustainable solutions for Australia's energy self-sufficiency into the future. With the majority of us recognising the need for action on climate change, the communities, industries and workers at the coal face of the energy transition need to build that shared future on solid ground.

At the same time, regional Australians need to know that the sprawl of renewables infrastructure - from offshore wind farms to acres of solar panels to the poles and wires that bring the power to the people - will not steamroll local communities or degrade our rural landscapes and pristine coastlines.

Faced with the choice between a government that probably deserves to lose and an opposition that hardly deserves to win, it will be understandable if uncertain voters in these uncertain times decide to play it safe and stick for now with the devil they know.

On balance, that would be the right decision.