THE Coalition’s strategists were on high alert in the second half of last year as Julia Gillard made a flurry of policy announcements that could have been used as a platform for an early election.
The announcements – on health, disability and education – contained no details and there was no funding allocation but they had electoral appeal.
It now appears that this activity was part of the Prime Minister’s scheme to protect her leadership from a resurgent Kevin Rudd and to calm the frayed nerves of her Labor backbench. There is …