Their 24-hour strike beginning at 4am this Saturday – Riverfire day – is also just incredibly cynical. It is also mean-spirited, dumb, self-defeating – and is a decision that makes absolutely no sense.

In most industrial disputes, the relevant unions try to win the sympathy of the public as they fight for better pay and conditions. They try to limit any inconvenience caused to innocent parties, but explain that it is necessary to bring the bosses to the negotiating table. Well, these two unions have now lost any public support they may have enjoyed in their ongoing pay dispute against RiverCity Ferries and Brisbane City Council.

Rail commuters have just had to suck up the impacts of a similarly drawn-out dispute this year – and their unions have become the bad guys. It will be the same this time, with 30,000 people catching ferries on last year’s Riverfire day – and every one of them will now have to make alternative arrangements.

Every industrial dispute has two sides. But these two unions have now guaranteed they have lost the public relations battle on this one.

PM MAY REGRET THIS

It may be 20 months (at the latest) until he has to face the voters, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s future now depends on a gamble he didn’t have to make.

When Mr Albanese beat Peter Dutton in March 2025, he recorded a 19-seat majority and a 55-45 per cent two-party-preferred advantage, with many predicting Labor would also hold on to power at the next election (due in 2028).

On the face of it, Labor held all the advantages. The Liberal-National Coalition, which ran a diabolical campaign in 2025, has been a basket case ever since.

The Coalition has broken up and reformed, Liberal leader Sussan Ley was dumped (as well as Nationals boss David Littleproud), and the rise of One Nation has seen Coalition support drop to record-low levels.

Although the greener economic pastures the Prime Minister promised before the 2025 poll have not materialised, there is plenty of time for that to turn around.

Against this backdrop, Mr Albanese decided to roll the dice.

Australia is a nation of homeowners. The retirement plans of most Aussies are entirely wrapped up with the equity they have built up in their homes.

Others have decided to build wealth through property, taking advantage of negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts to become landlords.

Governments of all persuasions have been completely fine with this. In fact, they have encouraged it, as it keeps people off the age pension. That a government would intentionally tank the housing market – to lower the value of your greatest asset – was unthinkable.

Enter Mr Albanese and his Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who decided to do exactly that in the May federal budget by tinkering with those longstanding negative gearing and CGT arrangements that they had repeatedly promised not to mess with.

Mr Chalmers said his aim was to restore intergenerational equity, with runaway house prices locking young people out of the market. Taking them at their word, that was a noble goal. But it is also easy to paint the tax changes as good
old-fashioned Labor class warfare.

It was also an admission of defeat, with the previous and more traditional strategy of increasing housing supply – by building 1.2 million new homes in five years – a dismal failure. So the pair took the gamble, and housing prices have tanked (just as they hoped), with Brisbane house prices down 2.8 per cent since peaking in March.

So what do Australians think of this? A Newspoll published this week shows that 62 per cent of Australians want house prices in their suburb to increase or stay about the same over the next two years, compared with 32 per cent of voters who want prices to decrease.

It is a completely unsurprising result, especially when you consider that two-thirds of Australian households own their own home (either outright or with a mortgage) – with the other third renting.

Mr Albanese and Mr Chalmers, of course, knew this before breaking that election promise and tanking the housing market.

Maybe they are banking on the votes of prospective first-home buyers cancelling out the howls of protest from older Australians.

But now, with the rise of One Nation – triggered by a rising distrust of politicians (go figure) – Labor is facing very real and immediate threat. With their reckless tax gamble, the 2028 election is no longer a fait accompli.

The loss of a previously safe West Australian Labor seat to One Nation at the weekend perfectly illustrates that reality.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here