Josh Frydenberg has written an elegant book about his life and saving the Liberals.
asserted
Frydenberg → write → Liberals
The only problem is that it leaves the reader unsure about whether he wants to lead the party, ensure its survival or just remind people he used to be a future prime minister.
asserted
he → leave → people
The former treasurer’s memoir, A Grateful Son, is billed as a reflection on Australia’s future.
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memoir → bill → future
Inside the Liberal Party, it is being read as something closer to a political job application, complete with an economic manifesto and a conspicuously open door to a comeback.
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it → read → comeback
The timing for these things rarely work but this one particularly grates on many of his colleagues.
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one → work → colleagues
Federal leader Angus Taylor is trying to rebuild the Coalition’s credibility.
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Taylor → try → credibility
His inner circle thinks he’s finally broken through against the Albanese government on the economy.
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he → think → economy
In Frydenberg’s home state, the Victorian Liberals are preparing for an election campaign in which Frydenberg’s former aide, Jess Wilson, is favourite to lead the Coalition to power.
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aide → prepare → power
Yet Frydenberg has managed to drag the party back into a favourite pastime – talking about him.
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Frydenberg → manage → him
“It does risk becoming all about Josh,” one former colleague said on Monday.
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colleague → risk → Monday
“There’s no doubt he’s shown he can cut through like many others.
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he → ’ → others
But he is showing nothing but naked ambition for himself.”
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he → show → himself
“He needs to piss or get off the pot,” they said.
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they → need → pot
“We can’t tolerate 12 or 18 months of will-he-or-won’t-he.”
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he → tolerate → he
Welcome to the “festival of Josh”, as it was dubbed on Monday, where the guest of honour has not announced he is running for anything, but would quite like everyone to keep talking about the possibility.
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everyone → welcome → possibility
Frydenberg lost his seat of Kooyong to teal independent Monique Ryan in 2022.
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Frydenberg → lose → 2022
The book puts that loss largely down to others.
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book → put → others
Now, almost five years later, he is back explaining what the Liberals must do to survive and leaving himself positioned perfectly to argue that he should be the saviour.
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he → explain → himself
The party must reconnect with the political centre, appeal to younger voters and stop retreating into its own ideological comfort zone.
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party → reconnect → zone
Frydenberg warns that if the Liberals’ vote continues to decline, the party won’t survive in its current form.
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party → warn → form
He speaks of a populist right on the march across the West off the back of many factors, including immigration and inflation.
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He → speak → immigration
He writes with conviction about antisemitism and the horrors of Bondi.
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He → write → Bondi
“All of these things, and more, render the next federal election one of the most critical in recent history,” he writes.
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he → render → history
It also conveniently elevates the importance of the man making it.
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It → elevate → it
The former treasurer says he has not closed the door on a return to politics.
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he → say → politics
He has simply declined to rush a decision, noting that the next federal election is still 18 months away.
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election → decline → decision
He will use that time weighing up whether he can win - or, as some think, whether he’s prepared to risk losing.
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he → use → time
But for Taylor, it is now time spent looking over his shoulder.
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it → spend → shoulder
The Liberals also fear it means scaring away credible candidates and donors in Kooyong while he takes his time.
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he → fear → time
He would be welcomed back, but they want him all in, not dipping his toe.
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him → welcome → toe
Worse, Frydenberg has lobbed a grenade into the Coalition’s economic debate.
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Frydenberg → lob → debate
His proposed grand bargain would raise the GST, scrap some exemptions and use part of the extra revenue to fund substantial income tax cuts.
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bargain → propose → cuts
It is a discussion worth having.
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It → have → ?
But it is also an extraordinary gift to Labor when Taylor is trying to establish a clear economic alternative amid a cost of living crisis.
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Taylor → try → crisis
“If he wants to come back and be a team player, he’d be a great asset.
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he → want → ?
He could be a great foreign minister,” one Liberal said.
uncertain
Liberal → say → ?
In other words, there are plenty of ways for a former treasurer to contribute without immediately reopening the contest for the top job.
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treasurer → be → job
Supporters and detractors alike know the question hanging over his memoir is not just whether he could return to parliament.
uncertain
he → know → parliament
It is what he would want once he got there.
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he → want → what
Frydenberg argues that politicians must stop flattering voters, confront difficult choices and tell Australians the truth about the country’s challenges.
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politicians → argue → challenges
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
