The misguided slogan that led the government to spend $45 million on Tim Tams

April 13, 2026 — 5:00am

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Tony Abbott gave us killer three word slogans. From “stop the boats” to “axe the tax”, the former prime minister delivered cut-through political lines that are memorable more than a decade after he first deployed them.

They were extraordinarily effective political bumper stickers.

Pity other three word slogans – listen to advice, run government properly, don’t tell fibs – weren’t adopted. And when you govern by slogan, which by their very nature are devoid of nuance or intelligence, then you end up pretty quickly in strange places like the 2014 budget or fending off a leadership challenge from an empty chair.

Today, however, we’ve moved on from three-word slogans to a two-word rallying cry from all points of the political compass; sovereign capability.

Those two words, which gained prominence during the pandemic, are now sprinkled across just about every topic you can imagine.

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There’s a sweetness to the term that means it is being applied like political icing sugar.

Throw in adjacent terms such as “economic security”, “national resilience” or “industry policy” and you’ve got a veritable cookbook of terms.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has taken it to the point that frontbencher Andrew........

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