Forget the past, Australian governments face a tough road ahead

While Walter notes that Albanese did "face criticism for his modest suite of policies and a lack of vision", the simple truth is that only fibbers will have easy answers to address future policy needs.

Sure Australia still has advantages over most countries, with vast mineral wealth in the ground, but the golden days for all liberal democracies may well be over in this unprecedented competitive world where their dominance is challenged by the economic might of authoritarian China alone which makes the Western policy task of balancing economic and social needs that much harder.

Rather than merely citing the past, which includes Walter's focus on the importance of good leadership which should always be a given, Australia needs a comprehensive discussion of the policy problems ahead and how best we can deal with them.