PM rebuffs hug from former leadership rival Tanya Plibersek
It was the awkward moment that the vast majority of Australians likely missed as Anthony Albanese launched his campaign. Now questions are being asked.
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It was the awkward moment that the vast majority of Australians likely missed as Anthony Albanese launched his campaign.
As he strides confidently into the room, the Prime Minister is all smiles holding hands with his partner Jodie and greeting the Labor faithful.
A grinning Jim Chalmers gives him a backslap. Penny Wong shakes his hand and then holds his hands for a moment.
But as he finds himself face-to-face with Tanya Plibersek, she goes in for a hug and he grabs her hands to block it. She registers it. He moves on.
It’s an awkward exchange to watch, made all the more poignant by the constant pitter patter of stories that the Prime Minister is sidelining his former leadership rival in the campaign or undermining her.
Confronted with the video on Sunrise by Sunrise host Nat Barr, Ms Plibersek tried to laugh off the awkward moment.
“I reckon we should still all be elbow-bumping. During an election campaign, the last thing you want is to catch a cold from someone. So that’s on me. I should’ve done the elbow-bump, I reckon,’’ she said.
“You two still getting along?,’’ Barr asked.
“Yeah, of course!,’’ Ms Plibersek replied
“Friends, buddies? Just checking,’’ Barr said.
There was an awkward pause again before Barnaby Joyce dissolved into laughter adding, “Glad you’re not my barrister on that one!”
Moments after the awkward interaction, Mr Albanese’s partner Jodie subsequently did go in for a hug.
But for the briefest of moments, it was a reminder of the simmering tensions within a government that has been much more stable and unified than the Rudd-Gillard years.
Just before Christmas, the Prime Minister was forced to deny a rift between himself and Tanya Plibersek after he spiked her Environment Protection Authority deal — a decision he claimed was not about heading off a political backlash in WA.
Despite that sophistry, Premier Roger Cook praised Mr Albanese for showing “great leadership” in shelving the EPA.
So was it fear of catching Tanya Plibersek germs in WA that prompted the PM to dodge the hug?
Or was it his dodgy back that was injured when he was T-boned by a P Plate driver driving a Range Rover in 2021?
The accident left him with external and internal injuries, although he was able to walk and talk after being released from his car.
His back is a constant struggle however, it troubles him during the campaign when he’s forced to spend too long in cars. If you look at the pictures of Roger Cook going in for a hug as he takes to the stage he looks stiff.
Asked if he could “categorically deny” a rift with his high-profile environment minister last year, Mr Albanese told ABC radio: “Absolutely”.
And yet a few months later, an anonymous Labor insider offered these unfiltered views on the Prime Minister’s performance in a profile of Tanya Plibersek that asked the question: “Why isn’t this woman put in charge?”
The piece in QNews – which specialises in news for Australia’s LGBTIQ community – raised eyebrows after a political staffer told the outlet what they are really thinking ahead of the federal election on the condition of anonymity.
“Compared to Tanya, Albo comes across as an ineffectual buffoon,” she said.
“Albo’s been a disaster.”
Not in this campaign however. And if, as is now expected, he wins the election on May 3 but the government is forced into minority, the question that arises is should he stay or should he go?
If he wins, Mr Albanese will be the first Australian Prime Minister since John Howard to win two consecutive terms.
He wouldn’t be going anywhere immediately, but there’s few Labor insiders that believe Mr Albanese, 62, will run again in 2028.
Many political insiders question whether Mr Albanese would have another election in him. His back troubles are part of that equation, too.
The purchase of the Copacabana holiday home – a subject that makes the Prime Minister borderline incandescent as he thinks the media treatment was unfair – lit a match to speculation he might be looking towards the exit.
Jim Chalmers, 47, is the obvious frontrunner to succeed Mr Albanese but there are other cabinet ministers that the PM is much closer to.
They include Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, 55, from the right in NSW, who worked his union connection when in the employment portfolio.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, 57, who hails from the Victorian right, might see himself as a potential successor but is unlikely to ascend to the throne.
A wildcard could also include Jason Clare, who has the gift of the gab but would be way below Jim Chalmers in the pecking order.
If Mr Albanese resigned and the Labor leadership was contested, the rules require a ballot of the rank and file.
Tanya Plibersek was once a contender and is popular with the rank and file but is regarded as less likely these days to ever return to the leadership after serving as Bill Shorten’s deputy.
Which brings us back to the hug.
Contrast the Prime minister’s awkward exchange with his interaction with Julia Gillard.
Just a few moments earlier, he grabs her hand and even holds up her arm.
Happily forgotten is the moment he sobbed for the television cameras 13 years ago when he announced that he would vote to remove her as leader.
“I rang the Prime Minister this morning and had a lengthy conversation with her. I informed the Prime Minister that I would be voting for Kevin Rudd in Monday’s ballot,’’ he said in 2012.
Mr Albanese also noted that she had offered a personal pledge he could retain his role even if Kevin Rudd lost.
It was a good guarantee to get. Julia Gillard won that first ballot by a vote of 71 to 31.
Perhaps, it was also a calculated gamble by Mr Albanese to publicly lock her into guaranteeing his job despite his act of disloyalty.
No such luck it seems for Tanya Plibersek, who has been demoted and moved sideways ever since the 2022 election.
When he ultimately won the leadership back in March, 2013, Mr Rudd appointed Anthony Albanese as deputy prime minister.
He played a long game and won, but the question remains how long he has to run.
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