There’s an empirical test for divisiveness. If something appeases one section of the community and enrages another, it would seem to fit the bill.

Within a matter of days this week, the Albanese government went from levelling that charge at Peter Dutton to being accused of it themselves.

Having raised hopes and expectations in the LGBTQ community that new questions in the 2026 census meant they would finally, literally, be counted, it backtracked out of fear – fear of exposing transgender people in particular to a bigoted debate and of heralding another round of culture wars that would drown out its economic message.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Landing such a spectacular own goal and ending up doing the very thing you’re trying to avoid – via something as mundane as the non-collection of statistical data – is quite the political achievement.

Jim Chalmers’ free character analysis of Dutton as “the most divisive leader” in modern Australia – inserted carefully into a speech on Monday night – may seem unconnected to the mess he and his colleagues are now mopping up over whether or not to add sexuality and gender questions to the census. But there’s a thread running through it that extends beyond Chalmers’ involvement in both.

The treasurer’s salvo at the opposition leader goes directly to how Labor is seeking to prosecute its case for re-election. Ideally, it would be focused on policy and the fact that the Coalition has virtually none.

Chalmers argues it’s precisely because Dutton hasn’t outlined a policy agenda and doesn’t want to talk about it that the Coalition is leaning so heavily on issues around national security and talking up the risk of people coming from Gaza.

The treasurer’s thesis is Dutton is choosing........

© The Guardian