Just when the thirtieth consecutive Newspoll loss for the Turnbull government is looming, and it looks ‘Goodnight Irene’ for Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition, along comes Bill Shorten and his shadow Treasurer, Chris ‘I want Bill’s job’ Bowen.

Labor’s Tuesday announcement of sweeping tax changes, its centrepiece the changing of dividend imputation rules to snatch excess tax credits from millions of Australian shareholders contributing to their own retirements, is an unexpected lifeline for a struggling government.