A double dissolution could create a Hunger Games contest – and Albanese knows it

To dissolve the whole Senate, Anthony Albanese needs at least one bill that the upper house has blocked on two occasions, at least three months apart. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The prime minister isn’t threatening a double-dissolution election. Having said that, he won’t be unhappy with headlines suggesting he is, because he’s also not ruling it out.

Anthony Albanese won’t mind dangling this possibility because he knows it could pose an existential threat to some in the Senate. And he knows they know it, too.