Not any more. The House is a quandary of cross-bench electees (likewise the Senate) and the leader of the country is often up for grabs and is apparently beholden to opinion polls. Of course, the electorate does not vote in or out party leaders - that is the preserve of the party itself - but it is likely that they would appreciate seeing the same face in the same job at the following election.
What does all this matter anyway, you might ask. Apart from the actual politicians concerned, for whom a fall from the highest office in the land must be an almighty slap indeed, the dust eventually settles and the show goes on.
And so I segue into the main purpose of this post. What is reasonably within our control as individuals, and what is largely outside of our control? In this matter I will defer to the late Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, who thought deeply about this very issue. Epictetus argued that for a person to achieve a certain amount of tranquillity in one's life (and who does not want such a life?) then we should focus on only those things over which we have a lot of control. This list comprises opinions and judgements, choices and actions, desires and aversions. Things over which we have little or no control include death, disease, poverty, the body, property, position, rank, reputation and so forth.
Peace of mind and relative contentedness will only come from working within the realm of what we have control over. Everything else is temporary, on loan, and may disappear at any time and without any justification. If we see all external things as being transient (a very Buddhist idea) then we will appreciate them more in the present and be less inclined to be upset when they are gone.
For anyone striving to be a Prime Minister, this is a lesson well learnt in advance.
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