Labor's achieved more in six months than the LNP did in 10 years

It's a strange feeling to not consider seppuku when our Prime Minister appears on TV. It's even stranger to have a PM and government who are getting things done instead of holding endless press conferences about it and taking photos in costumes. Our leaders are leading. It's taking some getting used to.

This week alone - the most productive week by a government in living memory - Labor has passed the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Secure Jobs Better Pay, Respect at Work, censured Scott Morrison's disgraceful secret seizure of wide powers, been hard at work on creating energy price caps to lower bills for the domestic market, and seen off Morrison's pick for President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

These achievements involved good-faith negotiations with independents, the Greens, and the opposition. As a result, parliament has ended the year by delivering an anti-corruption commission, real measures to finally lift wages, make workplaces safer, and deservedly condemned a former prime minister for the first time in Australia's history. It's been a week of restoration and progress.

In its first six months, Labor has also secured a lift to the minimum wage, a pay rise for aged care workers, and overseen a major cut in our emissions projections. There are many more achievements of the Albanese government that have seen little media attention. These include repairing important international relationships, re-opening our crucial dialogue with China, working collaboratively with state governments of all parties, ending the toxic tone of national debate, beginning the Voice referendum process, and treating transgender and other vulnerable groups with the respect that they deserve.

This broad accumulation of progress culminated in the frenzied achievements of the last sitting week of parliament. Australia is officially moving forward and at surprising speed. The adults are in charge. You can feel it.

Compare this week's achievements by Labor to the final sitting week of the Morrison government. Its industrial relations reforms failed and were followed by his last-gasp obsession with a needless Religious Discrimination bill - at a time that inflation and rising prices were already black clouds on the horizon. None of the LNP's final agenda passed. Morrison's last acts as Prime Minister failed, just like Morrison himself.

During that last week, Morrison's government was also hiding the impending surge in power prices and an important State of the Environment report from the Australian public. Secrecy defined the LNP's shambolic and self-serving government until the end.

There is still much for Labor to do. An open conversation with the Australian public about Labor's plans for mining and resources must begin in the very near future. It's antithetical to Labor's claimed values for the government to be approving new mines and leaving the exit-plan for heavily polluting exports solely to the market. It won't be an easy conversation, and will involve dangerous advertising blitzes by resource dinosaurs, but it needs to happen.

Labor must also lift the rates of welfare payments in the immediate future. It should have happened in their first budget. It can't wait any longer. One in four Australians is skipping meals because they can't afford food. The average advertised rent has risen 22% in the past year. Almost all welfare recipients are going hungry and are at risk of homelessness. This is deeply unacceptable. It must be fixed immediately.

Much has been made of the NACC's 'exceptional circumstances' clause for public hearings. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus assured reporters months ago that serious cases involving politicians would pass this threshold. For the good of the nation, they must. With that said, claims in the media and online that the NACC is now watered down are melodramatic and wrong. The NACC is fully retrospective, can compel witnesses to testify, anyone including the public can submit to it, and the body will be fully independent. It has sharp teeth and will draw blood where it needs to. Most importantly, it will strongly dissuade future corruption.

Labor has achieved more for the national interest in six months than the LNP did in ten years. Arguably more than the Coalition has this century.

The lightning-fast achievements of Anthony Albanese and Labor should be blanketing the media. Instead, as usual, Labor's achievements are buried and the LNP remains the focus of coverage. But polls show that voters are paying attention.

The media is increasingly irrelevant, the further it detaches itself from reality. Luckily, real progress, major new infrastructure, and improved living conditions will always resonate with Australians.

It's been a great six months.

To a happy new year.