Election 2025 is less about Liberal vs Labor, more about the top 20% vs the rest

28 February AFR gushes for the "smartest person" in the room and his enthralling (who among average Australians even cares?) insider skirmishes with the Reserve Bank.

Only three lines, on Jim's flaky net-zero made-in-Australia policies. Next to nothing on the energy cartel, rental crisis, world-level housing un-affordability, insidious tax-creep, and world-beating reversal in real household-incomes. No concern about the unpopular 1.3 million net-migration in a single term. Thrashing the Rudd Labor record by 70%.

Ironically, AFR itself recently wondered aloud, does Dr Chalmers even live in the same country as the rest of us? Like, are you better off now than three years ago? Chalmers, in Treasury talking points, would still say yes.

He points to his million jobs (mostly for his million migrants) and five quarters of real wage growth (scarcely denting a long decline).

Also in 28 February AFR, Jim's Treasury chief Steven Kennedy rather appears to have a public hissy-fit in case a PM Dutton might presume to remove him. Kennedy used to be a psych nurse, but I can't begin to get my head around his insolence.

Bloke's earning a million dollars annually. Has cruised with Chalmers for three years, doing Treasury's inward-looking budget-repair and inflation-fighting.

Yet also, he was the previous Coalition Government's Infrastructure chief. His own department formally recommended paying $30 million, for land worth maybe $3 million. But "surprised and concerned" Kennedy must have wagged school that day. His minister implied similar. Welcome to postmodern accountability.

20% versus the rest

Remember Coalition Robodebt? Labor found a savvy Royal Commissioner to sum up the wickedness, though some miscreants remained (remain) in a sealed section.

After reprehensible deaths of vulnerable Australians, there'd be retribution, right? As if.

Nothing much has happened to naughty ministers and mandarins. Chief of Albanese's Department collaborated with other chiefs to park "Major General" Kathryn Campbell in a lucrative sinecure. The head of Labor's corruption commission, we later learnt, was an army mate of Campbell's. Wouldn't we all love to enjoy this masculinised version of one-way accountability? Like loading the dishwasher, anyway you please.

What's the thread in the Campbell and Kennedy folktales?