Anthony Albanese gets accidental mullet treatment made famous by Bill Shorten

A wild spotting of one of our most senior politicians sporting a bold ‘new look’ has brought the laughs. And not for the first time.

It’s a political legacy started by former Labor leader Bill Shorten, but now Anthony Albanese has stepped into the spotlight sporting an accidental mullet.

The legend of the accidental mullet began in 2014 when an unfortunately (or fortunately?) placed Amanda Rishworth stood behind Mr Shorten as he fronted the media.

Bill Shorten is given a mullet at a press conference thanks to Amanda Rishworth.

Mr Shorten cops another mullet at a press conference in Adelaide circa 2015.

From then, a legacy was born. While Mr Shorten is no longer the Labor leader, the memories of the accidental mullet are not forgotten.

So when Anthony Albanese stepped out in the NSW Hunter Valley to announce his plans to back a gas-fired power station, Twitter users picked up on the return of an old friend.

Anthony Albanese gets the mullet treatment thanks to Paterson MP Meryl Swanson.

Courtesy of local MP Meryl Swanson, the Labor leader took to television screens sporting the brand new look.

But it’s not the first time Mr Albanese has been pictured with longer locks.

As The Australian’s Strewth revealed in 2019, “mullet Albo” goes all the way back to 1986.

“I absolutely had a mullet … and an earring!” he told the paper.

Anthony Albanese at the 1986 NSW Young Labor conference at Bondi Pavilion.

But the history of the political mullet is not just confined to Labor.

If you can believe it, despite being the bald Treasurer we all know now, Josh Frydenberg also used to sport a major mullet.

Josh Frydenberg sporting a mullet hairstyle during his tennis playing days.

The pictures, which surfaced in 2019, were released after the Treasurer joked that the last time Labor delivered a budget surplus he had a mullet.

Unfortunately for Mr Frydenberg, he was unable to deliver on his much promised surplus due to the pandemic.

But we'll always have the pictures to remind us what could have been.

Really makes you think…. pic.twitter.com/QHU9MDvrB2

— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) January 31, 2022