The return of the prodigal son? Why speculation is rising over Josh Frydenberg’s future
Josh Frydenberg spent another week happily stoking "Josh for Canberra" talk, and the weariness in parliament is almost audible. I get why the Liberals keep circling back to him. He looks like a leader, talks like a leader, and has that strange political gravity that makes people forget he lost his seat. But the party already has a leader, and the fact that this question keeps floating around tells you more about Angus Taylor's standing than about Frydenberg's plans.
What I find genuinely odd is the way political parties treat former ministers like returning comets. Every time they appear, everyone pretends to be surprised. Frydenberg has more rumoured comebacks than a rock band on a nostalgia tour, and yet nobody seems to ask whether the magic would still work in a party that has moved on. Politics rewards confidence, but it punishes people who confuse their own return with the party's renewal.
I'd want to know what Frydenberg actually thinks he'd do differently. Winning back the seats he lost is not the same as winning back the voters who left. If the answer is just "me again," the question probably isn't worth asking.