Anthony Albanese’s ‘near-death’ crash tale is losing its lustre

As Aussies begin thinking about who they will vote in as the next PM, Labor leader Anthony Albanese needs to tell us who he really is, writes James Morrow.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Did you know Anthony Albanese was in a car crash? It wasn’t even noon on Wednesday before Albo had gotten off his second mention of the auto accident he was in last January, when a 4WD ploughed into his sedan and left him with injuries that saw him taken to a local hospital for checks and X-rays.

In the morning on the Today Show, the Opposition leader spoke of “a major car accident … one in which I could have lost my life” which made him reassess things as he prepared to take on Scott Morrison.

A few hours later, from Brisbane, he told the press pack of the “life-changing” experience of seeing “a Range Rover heading for a head-on collision” with his Toyota as he sat helplessly behind the wheel at an ­intersection in his inner-suburban electorate. It’s a tale he tells often, both in serious settings when discussing policy matters and to journalists writing “getting to know you” profiles.

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese needs to start telling Australians about himself. Picture: Sarah Marshall

It’s easy to see why he thinks this is a good story.

It helps explain the weight loss, the fitness, the new-found focus that has – credit where credit is due – made Mr Albanese a far more formidable opposition leader than anyone expected him to be this close to an election.

Even the detail of the Range Rover (a Tory car!) driven by a 17-year-old P-plater (son of privilege!) heading for his working man’s Camry (a car fit for a Tory-fighter who grew up in public housing!) helps underline his personal narrative. But – and again, this is not to dismiss what must have been a pretty traumatic experience – its ­repeated retelling also exposes holes in the Labor leader’s strategy.

Because he mentions it so much, Albanese comes off a bit like one of those people who went to Harvard and then has to slip the fact into conversation every chance he gets.

Especially since, thankfully, the Opposition leader didn’t suffer much more than some pain and a trip to the hospital for X-rays, this wasn’t so much like graduating with a PhD as doing a short-form leadership course that still entitles you to the alumni magazine.

Anthony Albanese’s car crash.

Aftermath of the crash.

Nor does the fact that all this happened not much more than a year ago help, given that other politicians ­create origin stories that inform their whole lives. Just think John Howard and his father’s petrol station, or Paul Keating’s dad’s fights with the banks, or the near-Messianic vision Bob Hawke’s mother had for her son.

Not that Albo doesn’t have a good early biography either.

Those who have met and spoken with the Opposition leader for the first time report his personal story of being the son of a single mother and finding his absent father in Italy is compelling and genuinely moving.

A very funny story he tells of helping to organise a rent strike when he was 12-years-old helps to answer the question of why this bloke has spent his entire life in and around Labor politics.

But played differently, the fact that he was not even a teen at the time could also excuse his evolution over the decades away from the socialist left and towards the sensible centre.

All of this is to say that as Australians start to think about their votes, they will be thinking hard about the nature of the candidates and their policies.

Over the years Scott Morrison has carefully crafted his image as a curry-cooking, ukulele-strumming, everyman suburban dad.

While we wait for Labor to start to put forward its plans, its leader is missing a chance to tell us more about who our potential next PM is.