for ideas and priorities. They become hostage to the faction chieftains, and their pragmatic priorities, and, often, their intrinsic conservativism and opposition to rocking the boat. Rocking the boat, moreover, affects ministerial aspirations.

Those who go into politics as independents or in small parties such as the Greens often have different views of the world.

They may not have whole programs of government in mind. But they have strong views on a few subjects, while being prepared to defer to reason on the other. For most of the crossbench the environment, climate change and good government are the primary issues.

There are also strong concerns for human rights, justice, and a sense of stewardship over programs to help the aged and people with disabilities, children, Indigenous Australians, migrants and refugees. Luckily for those being canvassed for support by Labor, nearly all of these are right up Labor's tree, fitting comfortably into its policy platforms.

But Labor's efforts, even on policies on which it campaigns strongly have been unenthusiastic in practice. Even fitful and perfunctory.

Labor has made little secret of the fact that its climate targets are more focused on doing a little bit more than the opposition than about being of the right dimension for the problem facing the world.

Its targets on hydrocarbons and coal miners are subject to state and regional pressures about keeping the coal industry going, at least for the (indefinite) time being.

Likewise, targets are subject to change depending on the lobbying of state premiers, mining unions and multinational miners, many of whom pay no tax. An Anthony Albanese might well resent the pressure and the constant criticism from the crossbench.

He may even consider it impertinent, ill-informed and lacking any understanding of all the other pressures and demands upon his time.

But the fact is that these politicians are demanding that he implement his own announced policies. And even at their loudest and most unpleasant they are probably not putting anything like the same pressure or getting anything like the same return on their efforts as the well-heeled lobbies on the other side.

All the more so, usually, when much of the advice coming from government departments openly favours anti-environmental causes, seeing any "concession" to environmental considerations as a blow against economic rationality, inspired by political cowardice.

Small wonder when traditional Labor supporters fear that a re-elected Labor government will be as disappointing as that of the first term. Prone to look for excuses for minimal performance. Anxious about criticism. Terrified of criticism from the Murdoch organisation or multi-national businesses. Fearful of adding to government spending or adding to public debt. Addicted to patchwork solutions invented by public relations and advertising people, which, as often as not only make the particular problem worse.

There are solutions to housing finance problems, for example. But finding them involves policy work, hard thinking and willingness to contemplate unpopular choices. Implementing such policy involves courage and political risks. The days of thinking that good policy is good politics have passed. That's why Labor itself needs outside fingers in the pie for its own good.

• Jack Waterford is a former editor of The Canberra Times

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