Unity and discipline: Anthony Albanese’s blueprint to win 2025 election
The Prime Minister went bush on the first week of his unofficial 2025 election campaign, determined to show people he’s a ‘genuine bloke’.
NSW
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Flanked by four senior ministers and standing in the middle of a very safe Nationals seat in a state that furiously threw Labor from power just months ago, Anthony Albanese is in election mode.
The Prime Minister’s decision to announce a populist vote-winning policy in a seat Labor has no chances of winning is a deliberate move — it’s designed to tell Australians, “I’m a genuine bloke”.
“Someone said to me ‘Why are you making the first announcement of this year in the electorate of Wide Bay? It’s not a target seat.’ That’s because I’m determined to represent all Australians, regardless of where they live,” Albanese said at a press conference in Queensland after receiving a glowing endorsement from a paramedic who advocated for more cash for the killer Bruce Highway.
It’s the first unofficial week of his re-election campaign and the Prime Minister has chosen three key battlegrounds as his targets: Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
There were meetings with children and mums who were desperate to see the killer Bruce Highway upgraded before a visit to an urgent care clinic in Rockhampton, meeting gushing new doctors and grateful patients.
The next day Albanese played tennis with a group of children in Cairns, and visited party faithful at a branch event before heading to a cattle station in the Northern Territory – a wildcard jurisdiction where it’s hard to predict if Labor will win or lose.
Again, he told a reporter asking about local funding that unlike the Liberals, Labor does not “colour-code” spreadsheets.
The pitch to voters is designed to set him apart from his opponent, with Labor strategists revealing the government will run on a message of “unifying Australia” and position Peter Dutton as dividing Australia.
“The Opposition is deeply focused on division and negativity and dividing … we are very focused on uniting, on governing, listening, being with people,” a Labor source said.
“You never really do see Peter Dutton out with people doing spontaneous things at all.”
It’s an interesting Uno-reverse for the government that was battered by the Opposition for dividing Australia with the Voice Referendum – a narrative that quickly took hold among the 60 per cent of voters who turned down the proposal.
Another key focus is cost of living, with the government pledging several housing and local community infrastructure measures that are already funded.
By championing these policies – think money for the local kids’ sports clubs and social housing funding – the government hopes to persuade voters they are acting on cost of living now, not just when they get re-elected.
“(We are) always looking at how do we have an impact on people who are under pressure.” Albanese tells News Corp.
“We remain focused on things that impact people immediately … cheaper childcare does that, energy price relief does that, tax cuts for every taxpayer do that, free TAFE does that.”
Albanese maintains there will be more policies in that vein to show Australians why they will be “better off” under the return of this government.
And Labor sources agree that cost of living is where this election will be won or lost.
For all the bad headlines over Labor’s management of the war in Gaza, Albanese and his travelling party were met with little heat over conflict in the Middle East on his regional Australia tour.
Hip-pocket pain ruled in this part of the nation, but Labor figures conceded the handling of the war could give the Prime Minister grief during the election campaign in metropolitan areas like Sydney and Melbourne.
Watching Albanese in action during the housing and infrastructure blitz, there is no denying he’s ready to fight for his return to the Lodge.
The Labor leader’s decision to kickstart the campaign on January 5, and not after Australia Day as many expected, would surprise some but not those closest to the leader.
“It’s no surprise to me that we are working this week … he’s always done it,” Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, who is accompanying Albanese on the trip, said.
“When I had road safety, he would ring me up and say ‘We’ve got to make sure we are telling people about road safety’.”
Five days on the road in what could be dubbed “the hottest places in Australia tour”, meeting blue-collar workers, farmers and everyday families and ticking off two press conferences daily makes Albanese match-fit.
It’s another point he uses to differentiate himself from opponent Peter Dutton, who has rarely faced off with the full force of the Canberra press pack.
“I’ve taken more questions off the Canberra Press Gallery here in Mount Isa this morning than Peter Dutton has taken off the Canberra Press Gallery in the last six months of last year. I’ll continue to be held to account, he needs to be held to account,” Albanese fired off at a press conference in Mount Isa this week.
Albanese has worked all summer, and a Labor figure has been up every day for the media in a bid to cash in on the quiet holiday break.
As the party prepares for the election, it is also preparing an A-team of frontbenchers who will be the most prominent during the campaign.
Education Minister Jason Clare, who shone with his strong media performance in the last campaign when Albanese caught covid, is set to be among the most prominent Labor stars.
So is Finance Minister and the Prime Minister’s Labor faction confidante Katy Gallagher – a shift from 2022 when she did not have as much of a starring role.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles were also named as key message drivers come election time.
And finally, in a preview of the campaign, Minister King will continue this week’s performance into the election with a focus on regional Australia.
Besides assembling his election line-up, the leader is also off the grog until polling day and watching his carbs.
After a major health transformation ahead of the 2022 election, Albanese said this time around he’s doing more of the same: eating well, playing tennis and watching his carbs.
“You would have seen my ham and cheese croissant … I hardly had any of the croissant, I try to minimise bread,” he laughs.
“As you would be aware I play tennis. No alcohol, I try to get fit, I try to exercise … I’m not a gym person so I walk the dog.”
With difficult polls and no certainty over an interest rate cut, Albanese is taking no chances.
Predictions on Labor’s 2025 performance are mixed, with some sources remaining optimistic of a thin majority government while others say a minority government would be a strong result after a tough few years for left-leaning incumbent governments around the world.
Multiple insiders told News Corp they remained optimistic about Queensland and the Northern Territory after voters took their frustrations out by kicking out Labor state governments.
But Victoria is being watched more closely than ever before, with the “odour surrounding their state government” risking Labor’s chances.
Albanese’s campaign preview this week has been received well by his colleagues. Queensland Senator Anthony Chisholm, who accompanied the boss on a portion of the trip, said the Prime Minister was “energised” from being on the hustings.
“A good way to start the year. I’ve always felt he’s been a regular traveller to Queensland and regional Queensland,” Chisholm said.
But there are also concerns that without an election date, it’ll do little to shift the dial on stubborn polling that hasn’t gone Labor’s way.
“I don’t think much will change until the election is called. We are stuck in a place where we are getting judged partially but our hope of changing the dynamic is only there once an election is called,” another senior Labor source said.
“(The election) forces the public to scrutinise them (the opposition) more.”
Originally published as Unity and discipline: Anthony Albanese’s blueprint to win 2025 election
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