Ghost of 'Doctor No' haunts coalition
Not that long ago, Labor used to accuse Tony Abbott of being "Doctor No".
Anthony Albanese in particular loved using the nickname and would lead his colleagues in a lusty chorus of "no, no, no" in parliament.
Now in government, Abbott routinely accuses Opposition Leader Bill Shorten of being overly negative.
But this week it backfired.
The Labor leader on Wednesday walked into the House of Representatives chamber and offered to immediately pass the government's small business tax breaks.
"We were always going to vote for it," Shorten declared. "We always said we would support it."
The move caught the coalition completely off guard.
The prime minister had spent the past few weeks taunting Labor about being the enemy of small business and always playing politics.
But here was Shorten saying: "Let's get on with it."
The government quickly declined the offer, saying there were still 31 coalition MPs wanting to make speeches about the bills.
Abbott said it was a Labor stunt and, in any case, the real problem was the Senate, which is not sitting this week due to budget estimates hearings.
The test for Labor, the PM said, was whether it would let the bills through the Senate without a prolonged committee process.
In the end, the bills passed on Thursday morning with 16 coalition MPs mysteriously dropping off the speakers list.
The prime minister has also been hassling the opposition about his plan to allow the immigration minister to strip dual nationals of their Australian citizenship if they support terrorism.
"I want to know where the leader of the opposition stands on this," Abbott told parliament.
But yet again he fell foul of his own rhetoric.
Not even the coalition joint party room has seen the legislation, let alone the Labor caucus.
The government is likely to get Labor support for extending long-standing laws - which enable citizenship to be stripped of Australians who fight for foreign powers - to cover supporters of terrorist groups such as Islamic State.
However, even this modest change is expected to be scrutinised by the parliament's intelligence committee before being passed.
A discussion paper proposing the powers be extended to solely Australian citizens is open for comment until June 30.
This further step has been backed by 44 coalition backbenchers in a letter to the PM.
Abbott himself appears inclined to support the extension, telling parliament: "Anyone who lifts a gun or a knife to an Australian because of who we are has forfeited any right to be considered one of us."
However, Labor, the Greens and some coalition members - including cabinet minister Malcolm Turnbull - fear such a step could leave people stateless and breach Australia's international obligations.
Turnbull urged caution this week when he told reporters national security was not about "bravado".
The coalition's urging of Senate crossbenchers to allow workplace law changes to pass - especially the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission - is also being frustrated by the government's own efforts.
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie says she wants to see a confidential section of the trade unions royal commission report to help her make an informed decision about the need for stronger anti-corruption powers.
Her pleas have so far gone unheeded, despite the fact that seeing the report under strict conditions could unlock crucial crossbench votes.
The polls appear to show the strategy is not working for the coalition, with Labor continuing to hold a two-party preferred lead.
The latest Essential poll lists Abbott's strongest traits among voters as out of touch with ordinary people (65 per cent), narrow-minded (63 per cent), arrogant (62 per cent), but hard-working (59 per cent).
The latest Newspoll put his satisfaction rating at 38 per cent, with dissatisfaction at 53 per cent.
There's little upside in being negative in a political environment where voters want to see concrete results and co-operation.
A bit of bipartisanship will go a long way.
