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It’s time for Dr Chalmers to go. But who comes next?

The only solution is to install a new treasurer who will follow the Keating playbook rather than chasing Wayne Swan’s ponies and rainbows.

In the language of lawyers who write covenants in loan contracts, Jim Chalmers is “but for passage of time” no longer treasurer. It’s not just that he’s doing a bad job, though he is. It’s not just that he has terrible economic instincts, though he does. He’s now embarrassing the government and, much more importantly, the prime minister himself.

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Difficult times aren’t a sign of schism at the top of the ALP

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With furrowed brows, Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers are portrayed as men carrying the world on their shoulders, implying that the Labor Party is about to fracture and implode any day now (“Out of synch?” , October 17). The suggestion is made that the May budget has resulted in unintended inflation. Yet that same budget was deemed by financial institutions to be only mildly inflationary. It turns out that the vast majority of expenditure has emanated from the private sector, dwarfing that which came from the public purse. We are told anecdotally that there is a sense of frustration among Labor MPs. Yes, economic circumstances are tough, but the government chided for not using its big majority to implement bold reform is doing just that. Chalmers is charged as being oversensitive to criticism whenever he makes an evidence-based counterattack against the half-truths, innuendos and questionable assertions made by the opposition and media elements who seek to undermine him. The admission is made that he dragged the prime minister to make Josh Frydenberg’s tax cuts fairer. That was a good thing. The hullabaloo over the trusts issue misses the point that even the small percentage of people with trusts affected have alternative options to resort to. The surcharge/credit card issue could have been handled better, but the agencies that deal with that now have until the end of the financial year to rectify that. Also, bear in mind that Australia is one of only nine countries in the world with a triple-A credit rating with all three credit rating agencies. Frank Carroll, Moorooka (Qld)

In a funk: How economic pain is straining the PM and treasurer’s relationship

Behind closed doors, Labor MPs are questioning whether Jim Chalmers’ relationship with Anthony Albanese has soured.

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Jim Chalmers knows the government is under the pump and he says Labor must up its game to battle inflation, the unintended consequences of its May budget and keep voters’ trust through a painful period of interest rate rises.

While the federal government is not yet in panic mode – and it would still beat the fractured right-wing if an election were held today – Labor MPs returning to Canberra this week described a level of voter frustration they have rarely encountered during Anthony Albanese’s prime ministership.

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