Zen and the very mindful art of Newspoll maintenance

Not enough people talk about Anthony Albanese being the first practising Daoist to hold the office of prime minister. Much has been made of his mastery of the turntable and semi-human speech, but his dedication to Daoist principles such as Wu wei remains largely overlooked and underappreciated. And as the latest polls make one thing clear: Albanese is a master Daoshi.

What is Wu wei, I hear you ask? Well, we can’t all be as enlightened as the wonks and politicos. For the uninformed, the renowned sinologist Herrlee G. Creel considered the two contradictory forks of Wu wei, as found in the Daodejing and Zhuangzi, to mean two different things:

• an “attitude of genuine non-action, motivated by a lack of desire to participate in human affairs”;
• a “technique by means of which the one who practises it may gain enhanced control of human affairs”.

It’s obvious to me, your average armchair Laozi fan, that Albanese is committed to Wu wei with the same level of enthusiasm his predecessor had for nihilism and mild curry.