Having blanket rule by one party suggests Australians want faster action and smoother co-operation between federal and state governments.
Aside from dealing with the pandemic and economic squeeze, Australians have had a run of climate-linked weather disasters in recent years, and the country has been focusing more on strategic defence.
Richard Denniss, of progressive think-tank the Australia Institute, thought uniform administrations could “help increase cohesion and perhaps focus on some of those big national issues”.
In theory, it may lessen the impulse for reactive party political blaming from one level to the other. The flip-side means there’s also less wriggle room for excuses.
And in reality, the new Aukus deal has resulted in bickering between Labor leaders in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, and the government in Canberra.
There have previously been periods of sea-to-sea rule when voters have responded by turning to the opposition at subsequent state elections.
History professor Frank Bongiorno of the Australian National University says the only time Labor has held all nine of Australia’s administrations was between late November 2007 and early September 2008.
Likewise, the conservative parties have found it hard to tie the kangaroo down - gaining power everywhere, all at once, for just over a year in 1969-70.
With the upcoming New Zealand election in mind, parties on this side of the Ditch can probably mine the NSW election for cues.
Perrottet presented himself as a reformer with his innovative Kids Future Fund, and the Coalition announced major policies well before the campaign.
Minns promised a “fresh start” and emphasised practical solutions to problems - the equivalent of the much discussed ‘’bread and butter” approach of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
Labor plans to build 100 public kindergartens and wants to ensure any new schools will have a kindergarten on site. There are measures to combat a teacher shortage and to ban mobile phones on school grounds.
There are pledges for an extra 1200 health staff and two new hospitals; to cap the weekly toll bill for Sydney motorists as help with cost of living; a rental commission and a A$722 million first homebuyers scheme which axes stamp duty; a state-owned Energy Security Corporation to boost renewable energy investment. Labor would scrap a cap on public sector wages, negotiating pay rises sector by sector.
Labor also took an anti-privatisation stance, claiming the Coalition wanted to sell off Sydney Water to pay for infrastructure projects.
Of the main parties here, National as the main opposition would offer a change and has released policies focused on childcare and education.
Labour is the nearest in party values and has made a leadership change. But the message might be that action on chronic problems can’t be ignored for a sole focus on easing the cost-of-living crisis.
