No one is expecting them to be able to accurately predict the future - but the signs that the situation could rapidly turn here in Australia was always there, we ignored them, and then when things rapidly changed we were caught napping.
Not all of that lies at the feet of the feds - several states need to be held accountable for it as well. We might have won round one, but we monumentally and royally fucked up rounds two and three by thinking and acting as we could rely on what we did before rather than tempering our response with the sheer amount of information and data from outbreaks in other countries.
In some respects, it almost meaningless what the Libs actual performance was - they’ve been able to curate such a narrative that a lot of people have simply lost any faith in what they say and what they do. A significant amount of damage was done prior to Covid, but Covid has just resulted in it doubling down.
I suspect it’s still a lot closer than what the current polls are suggesting - if we have indeed seen the peak of the omicron wave on the east coast and the market gets flooded with rapid test kits in the next few weeks, it may be enough to sway people back towards the Libs (and I suspect that this is a key strategy in their election strategy - hope that things improve before the election needs to be called knowing that people could more easily sway back)
Its easy to get consumed by what’s posted online and to believe that the Libs are cooked at the next election, but online and especially social media is predominately a series of echo chambers that are not necessarily reflective of the broader community (and a number of them do a pretty good job of amplifying a particular message and forcing out counterpoints and counter opinions). Their position may indeed come to fruition, but its something that you need to be mindful of.
Misinformation is going to be a major issue for the election and its not necessarily from a nefarious foreign power - its quite often people who think they’re doing the ‘right’ thing and get wound up trying to find ways to discredit their enemy. You only have to see the sort of shit that people like Leo (of 6 News fame) for calling out some of the utter shit that is being spread as true.