Anthony Albanese’s leadership turmoil grows
As Labor gets closer to the next election, questions are being raised about whether Anthony Albanese is the right man for the job.
The future of Anthony Albanese’s leadership of federal Labor has again been thrown into question following the release of a new book.
Prominent members of Labor’s right faction have penned essays in a book about what the opposition needs to do to regain power.
Pressure for Mr Albanese, who is from the Labor Left, to strike the right balance between the party’s new progressive voters and its traditional working class base has been building since Labor’s stunning election defeat in 2019.
Deputy leader Richard Marles told Today that Mr Albanese was doing a fantastic job.
“The last election was a devastating result, and you would expect us to go through a process of trying to understand where we went wrong and how we put ourselves on a better track going into the next election,” Mr Marles said.
“But the person who is leading that is Anthony Albanese, and the most important step was our election review this time last year.”
But Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who failed at his attempt to secure the prime ministership in the infamous 2018 leadership spill, is not convinced.
“Richard is up to his neck in it … He’s the silent assassin of the Labor Party, so watch this space,” Mr Dutton said.
“Somehow his name appears in every article talking about the prospective Labor leader.
“Richard is a good bloke and Albo is on his last legs – that is the reality of it coming into the killing season.
“But they will probably wait until next year, and Richard is plotting and scheming.”
The new book, The Write Stuff: Voice of Unity on Labor’s Future, contains 30 essays on the way forward for Labor and Australia.
“The Australian Labor Party has forgotten how to win national elections,” the book states.
“Caught between its more conservative working-class base in Australia’s suburbs and regions and its inner-city progressive activists, Labor appears unable to bridge a growing chasm, and unable to build winning national coalitions.
“The 129-year-old ALP only succeeds when its Right wing, known as Labor Unity or Centre Unity, is on top of its game.”