Cost of living the must-have card for winning political hand

It was a humiliating spectacle to watch them sit silently as the other 21 MPs gave Michelle O'Byrne a jaunty welcome as she ascended the Speaker's chair.

Liberal voters would have been dismayed as this rump of a former glory rolled over so meekly.

If the Libs under Jeremy Rockliff want to prevail in this new era where they only have 14 out of the 35 seats. If they want to govern in minority on their terms they need to serve up to the people what they need and clearly want.

They don't need a blueprint because they already have one.

I had a read through their cost-of-living election policies and it's not bad for a tired old party of conservatives and a few moderates.

It's true that the other parties and the independents will have their own welfare initiatives which they will want to trumpet, but the point is the Libs are in government, they control the purse strings and have the capacity to bring down an annual budget.

So they are first off the starting blocks and all they need to do is trot out their compassion in these hard times when the battlers and even the lower middle class genuinely need a hand.

Is this more of a case of acquiescence?

No, across Australia and most likely across the world the cost of living has a strangle hold on the average family.

The Federal Labor budget is a desperate answer to the challenges facing families as the election next year gets closer.

It is certain that the Labor Party and Greens will want the parliament to be hijacked by chaos and controversy as long as Labor and the Greens don't get blamed, and better still that the government gets blamed.

If the Libs are meeting the challenges of struggling battlers they can sandbag their vulnerable seats and may even pick up support.

If the Libs pursue a strategy of cost of living measures the other parties could hardly oppose them without looking like they were opposing for opposing's sake.

The other parties might gang up together to force amendments but big deal.

Accept the amendments, it's still a government initiative.

If the nightly news said the government was forced to compromise on an initiative then so be it.

People will know who started it.

And no better way to sell it than to roll out an information campaign in print and electronic media which carries with it that golden post-script: Authorised by the Tasmanian Government, Hobart.

As if the other parties are going to oppose expenditure on an information campaign that has no particular brand.

I was surprised the Libs could come up with some of this welfare stuff.

Halving bus transport costs, energy credits, land tax relief, a levy on short stay accommodation, more paramedics, doctors and nurses, more cops, tough new laws to fight hooning, road rage and vehicle theft, 10,000 affordable homes by 2032 and stamp duty relief for first home buyers.

That's a few I noticed.

These are not trickle-down economics measures but direct measures that apply as soon as they are approved.

Of course issues like the footy stadium, our GST share, our energy needs and renovations to York Park remain important issues for the community but they won't fill a tank of fuel, nor put food on the table or pay the rent or pay the next power bill.

The issue in vogue this year is the cost of living and it would be expedient for the Libs if they used their position as a government to own it.

If they don't they will be led by the nose by Labor, the Greens and Independents to ratify similar measures and Labor will be doing its level best to appear like a government in waiting.

In fact the hung parliament and the relative strengths of the players gives Labor and the Greens enormous power to seize the initiative and steal the platform of governing from the government, so that it is relegated as a government in name only.

That's what I would be doing in opposition.

I would be planning to upstage the government at every opportunity.

I wouldn't be fussed whether the House of Assembly was in chaos or not.

I would be showcasing Labor as capable now of governing effectively and responsibly, a luxury Bec White intended to showcase until her party machine cut her off at the knees just hours after election night.

I'm not yet certain if new leader Dean Winter is the man to pull that off, whereas I think Jeremy Rockliff is the ideal leader to find a path for his party and broadminded enough to negotiate with all comers.

Mind you, I did have the same misgivings about Rockliff as I now have with Dean Winter, but the challenges facing their respective parties are now so much greater.