What Anthony Albanese could learn from Scouts Guide about honour
With the first week of the election campaign going abysmally for the Labor Party, it’s time for Albo to show the Australian public why he should be their next PM.
Analysis
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Anthony Albanese heads one of Australia’s most stoic and historic political clubs, the Australian Labor Party.
On the way to this lofty position, he’s learnt valuable lessons from his single Mum, the Union movement and his various mentors in the Left of the Party.
But after this last political week, during which he was relegated to the fires of hell, it’s obvious he skipped membership to the one club, which would have protected him from the current hell hole, he must somehow dig himself out of, the Scouts.
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Wearing a neckerchief with leather woggle, ensuring your khaki socks were kept upright by garters, and yelling the Scout Oath at every meeting was obviously not Anthony’s cup of tea.
But two Scout rules would have saved him last week, from one of the worst election campaign crashes in history; the oft recited motto to “be prepared” and the pledge to remain at all times, “mentally awake”.
These crucial life guides have been in force in the movement since 1907.
Why didn’t he sign up while attending St Mary’s Cathedral College? He sure didn’t take up their renowned music classes, we haven’t even seen a Ukulele in his hands.
But that’s where Albanese let himself down.
Since January, the Government has been brutal in the way its yelled at the Opposition in Question Time, skiting about unemployment hitting the almost full employment number of 4 percent.
Albo has either been doodling in the House for three months, or wasn’t mentally awake, or no attempt has been made prior to his press conferences, to run through the key economic numbers with advisers.
I’ve watched Labor MP Tanya Plibersek in the make-up room at Channel 7 in Martin Place, go through an arduous Q and A session with her media advisor, just prior to facing a live interview.
Preparation and remaining mentally awake, are not for amateurs. Before the award-winning Channel 9 Newsreader Brian Henderson took to the 6 o’clock newsdesk, he was well known to read his scripts diligently at least 30 times over.
One other thing the arduous process of preparation awards the prepared, is confidence.
From day one of this election campaign, as twice as many journalists and twice as many cameras turned up to scrutinise his every word, he’s looked fearful of what was coming.
This is not the daily routine of an Opposition Leader, whose only used for a short negative backhander aimed at some Government stuff-up.
It was glaringly obvious when in W.A., just before the campaign was called, when he refused to take a question from a random punter. He shied away from the questions he said he would take from everyone.
And when he had two dead-duck policies to flog on day 3 last week, the formally failed super-clinics health concept, and the decision not to review the rate of Jobkeeper,
he cut short his fifteen minute conference to eight minutes, and had the media yelling at him demanding he answer questions? The sight of him escaping out the side door was ignominious.
So much for answering at least one question from all those present... pledge broken … fear had set in.
Preparation would have meant, Albo would have had the details of his Super clinic concept nutted out well beforehand and workshopped behind closed doors.
But he was so scarce on detail, it was embarrassing.
Being mentally alert, would have seen him be able to talk about human rights issues, and therefore remember who the Human Rights Commissioner was, considering the fact
she’d been in the job for seven months.
This is bread and butter territory for Labor.
Sadly Albanese looks like half the man he was during the two faux campaigns before Christmas and after the New Year.
At that time the blowtorch was firmly on the Prime Minister. The media could smell blood, and kept digging away at his apparent demise over failed character traits highlighted in colleague’s text messages and his mishandling of various stages of the Pandemic.
But not so much now because the media and the public, have their eyes trained on the other side of the House, widely expecting Albo to trip again, and waiting for his next Poll numbers to reflect their disappointment. And they will.
Albo’s lack of knowledge and policy acumen, has been a glaring lesson for the electorate and materialised so early in this campaign.
Labor icon Graham Richardson claimed this week that Albo looked exhausted and needed a few days off.
If elite athletes can time their peak performances for the big meet, isn’t that how you prepare a Prime Ministerial aspirant for the first week of an election campaign?
If you’re focused fully on good preparation you do.
It’s not over until we all tuck into our democracy sausage on May 21, but after crowing about his economic credentials, and being unable to know the basics, voters have probably seen enough already, to think twice about using their baseball bats on the Morrison Government.
Meanwhile Scott Morrison is doing Albo no favours … he’s more humble than we remember him to be, he’s incredibly aware of all the relevant economic numbers and each appearance on the trail, he conveys at aura of being relaxed but very well prepared.
While the Prime Minister was not a member of the Scout movement as a boy growing up in the beachside Sydney suburb of Bronte, he and his father were heavily connected to the NSW Boys Brigade, a very similar Christian youth club aimed at guiding boys through those early years … and teaching leadership and resilience.
The PM has also previously shared in his love of his many pairs of Bata Scouts shoes when he attended school.
Maybe that in-sole compass the shoes came with, was enough for the future Prime Minister to understand the life rules by which Scouts stand by...’be prepared’ and remain ‘Mentally awake’.
Albo needs to learn those lessons yesterday.
Chris Smith is a presenter on Sky News ‘Chris Smith Tonight’ on Sundays at 6pm
Originally published as What Anthony Albanese could learn from Scouts Guide about honour
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