Russell Crowe voices Labor campaign ad for Anthony Albanese

Campaign Confidential: Albo has scored a big celebrity backer, but could it be the kiss of death? Also: Labor’s purple suits, press pack problems, and why a safe Liberal seat is in focus.

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Look who’s Crowe-ing

Mates. Russell Crowe and Anthony Albanese. Supplied

Changes to AEC laws around election commercials mean the speakers no longer have to be identified, but when Labor debuted its new ad during Sunday’s campaign launch, the voiceover talent was unmistakeable. Those deep, rich and textured tones: it could only be Australia’s favourite Kiwi, Russell Crowe. Rusty has not been shy about giving his support to political candidates in the past, and he backed Anthony Albanese (a fellow South Sydney Rabbitohs tragic) in his battle against Bill Shorten for the Labor leadership in 2013. But when the Gladiator star gave the thumbs up to Rob Oakeshott in his campaign for the seat of Cowper in 2019, he may have inadvertently unleashed hell for the independent. Oakeshott scored about 25,000 primary votes in that contest, while his opponent, Pat Conaghan from the Nationals, got almost double that.

Crowe’s move has upset some fans, who did not think it was appropriate given his Kiwi heritage and thought the Hollywood Gladiator should just stay out of politics. Others praised him for being involved.

Thinking twice about voting for Labor because of this ad... THERE IS NO WE RUSSELL CROWE... Russell Crowe is not a citizen and can not vote... and did not do this out of the goodness of his heart... why isn't someone asking how much this ad cost Australian taxpayers ! https://t.co/I1IEOZVvIC

— Jennifer Elizabeth (Liz) (@smithliz29) May 1, 2022

... that voice 😲✊ - @russellcrowe is a bloody legend 👇🥳#ausvoteshttps://t.co/KYSuDv0zTf

— Kaye Sera - fully vaxxed 🌈🕊 (@MissKayeSera) May 1, 2022

Very cross indeed

Penny Wong and Labor leader Anthony Albanese at the Labor Party launch at Optus Stadium, Perth. We can only hope nobody was trying a live cross during the speech this year. Picture: Liam Kidston

Campaign launches are a big deal and a major logistics operation, so imagine being the person who has to organise the biggest shindig of the political season. Labor’s launch organiser gave a passionate briefing to the media prior to Sunday’s event, and revealed he received the same complaint each year — one particular TV journalist is renowned for doing live crosses at the same time as the Leader is speaking, making it hard for others to hear the speech. According to the organiser, this has led to a highly-respected press gallery veteran “ripping his balls off twice”. (Ouch.) Further digging identified Michelle Grattan as the two-time aggrieved ball-ripper, while we’re still unsure about the identity of the live-cross culprit.

Purple haze

It was an inadvertent Wear It Purple Day for Jason Clare at Labor’s launch on Sunday.

So, managing a campaign launch is tough, but we do wonder whether Labor’s team might have given a bit more thought to the lighting at the event, particularly the red hue on stage. While it made Penny Wong’s red jacket really pop, it gave the navy suits of Jason Clare, Mark McGowan and Anthony Albanese a distinctly purple tinge on TV. Clare in particular looked like a very dapper version of The Joker, an impression heightened when he let fly with a few wisecracks. His best zinger was his description of Scott Morrison as “all tinsel and no tree” – the sort of thing you could have imagined Paul Keating saying, back in the day.

Maybe they want Moore

Labor leader Anthony Albanese tours an electric bus depot in the electorate of Moore on Saturday. Picture: Liam Kidston

Western Australia is a must-win state for Labor, with the commentators usually focusing on just the seats of Pearce, Swan and Hasluck in their analysis of what’s in play. But on Saturday, Albo chose to make an announcement about electric buses in the seat of Moore, held by Ian Goodenough for the Liberals on the usually safe-as-houses margin of 11.6 per cent. Campaign Confidential also notes Moore has been held by Labor for only seven years in the seven decades it has actually been a seat, and not since the 1980s. So what is Albo trying to achieve? Is this just some kind of glitch in the campaign matrix? Or is the McGowan factor really that strong? Remembering the state Liberals suffered an almost 10 per cent swing against them in last year’s state election, perhaps there is more in play in the west than we think.

Road to nowhere

Malcolm Turnbull gave us a 55-day epic in 2016. #neverforget. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

The weekend marked the official halfway point of the campaign, but if you’re thinking this year’s election is unusually turgid, you’re not mistaken; it really is. While the 42 days of this campaign are perhaps not as endless as the 55 days of pain we endured in 2016 (thanks Malcolm Turnbull for that one), this year’s campaign is longer than 2004 (41 days), 2007 (40 days), 2019 (37 days), 2001 (36 days), and 2010 and 2013 (both 35 days). And once you factor in the non-campaign electioneering that ScoMo and Albo were doing in the weeks before this election was even called, you’re right in thinking we’re in the middle of an absolute slogging marathon. Are we there yet?