SMH · Peter Hartcher · Sunday 22 March 2026
Peter Hartcher argues fuel price shocks give Albanese a rare opening to pursue structural reform, but the PM's record suggests crisis management will win over transformation.
Hartcher's thesis — that crisis is opportunity — is the political commentariat's favourite cross-stitch, hung in every gallery kitchen since Rahm Emanuel made it respectable. The pattern never changes: something breaks, a columnist argues it could be transformative, the government applies gaffer tape, and six months later we're told the next crisis is the real one. Albanese doesn't lack opportunity. He lacks the institutional willingness to spend capital on anything that won't poll-test by Thursday.