Albanese pitches himself as democracy’s defender before Trump meeting

Trust in democracy can be restored by proving government services work, Anthony Albanese will say in his first major speech since his May re-election, drawing an implicit contrast with US President Donald Trump ahead of the pair’s expected first meeting later this month.

The prime minister will argue delivering urgent necessities for Australians will restore faith in government, in a clear sign the re-elected Labor government is taking a cautious approach despite its thumping election win.

Albanese will say he will prove that “a good, focused, reforming Labor government can make a real difference to people’s lives”.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Albanese is expected to warn that Australia faces an uncertain world where some people believe the “corrosive proposition that politics and government and democratic institutions, including a free media, are incapable of meeting the demands of this moment”.

“Some simply dismiss such sentiment. Others cynically seek to harvest it. Our responsibility is to disprove it,” Albanese will tell the National Press Club on Tuesday, according to an excerpt of his speech.

“To recognise that some of this frustration is drawn from people’s real experience with government – be it failures of service delivery, or falling through the cracks of a particular system,” he will say.

Without naming Trump’s extensive cuts to the US government, Albanese will offer a prescription to restore faith in government through competence and programs that benefit everyone, rather than offering hard trade-offs for reform.

“To counter this [lack of faith in government], we have to offer the practical and positive alternative.

“To prove that a good, focused, reforming Labor government can make a real difference to people’s lives.”

The speech excerpts suggest a careful second-term agenda squarely focused on rebuilding trust in Labor, coming just days before the prime minister departs for the United States and then on to Canada for a meeting of the G7 major economies.

Albanese is expected to meet Trump on the trip, though that has not yet been confirmed, as well as other world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who, like Albanese, appeared to be the beneficiary of an anti-Trump sentiment among voters in his April election win.

A fortnight after Albanese, Sussan Ley will deliver her first speech to the press club as federal opposition leader on June 25, something her predecessor Peter Dutton declined to do for three years.

The prime minister, who has spoken often about his determination to make Labor the “natural party of government”, will say in the speech that it is only possible to build for the future “if you build confidence that you can deliver on urgent necessities”.

But he will also list the government’s longer-term plans, including making Australia a renewable energy superpower, developing advanced manufacturing, and for nine out of 10 GP visits to be bulk-billed by 2030.

“Our second-term agenda has been shaped by the lives and priorities of the Australian people … To deliver reforms that hold no one back, and drive progress that leaves no one behind,” he will say.

Albanese and Trump are expected to discuss tariffs and defence spending, after a call from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth for Australia to increase spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP met a cool reception in Canberra.

Deputy Nationals leader Kevin Hogan expressed hope on Monday that the prime minister “does finally get a physical meeting with him [Trump] next week” and reiterated that Australia should not relax its biosecurity laws to allow American-processed beef to be exported to Australia in exchange for lowering US tariffs.

Ley’s speech at the press club will not outline new policies, given the opposition is still reviewing the pledges it took to the last election, but her appearance at the press club marks a break with the Dutton years.

It also underscores her determination to speak to broader sections of the public and re-engage with institutions the previous opposition leader ignored at times.

Ley said that addressing the press club “is an important opportunity to talk to Australians about the work the Liberal Party will do over the next three years to reflect, respect and represent modern Australia”.

“Aspiration is the thread that connects every single part of Australian society, and by focusing on that, the Liberal Party can once again earn the trust of communities across the country.”

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