Albanese’s desk shows how he leads all other prime ministers in one way

Every prime minister’s desk says something about them. Kevin Rudd’s desk had haphazard rows of books and CDs. Scott Morrison’s bragged about stopping the boats. Julia Gillard inverted two paintings hung by her predecessor.

When Anthony Albanese returns to parliament this week, commanding a historic 94-seat majority, he will sit in front of a shelf surrounded by more sports memorabilia than any prime minister in living memory.

The selection of adornments fulfils many of the stories Albanese has told about himself over the years and some of the things that the prime minister is less interested in displaying compared to his predecessors, chiefly books.

His reverence for his “three faiths” – the Catholic Church, the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Australian Labor Party – manifests itself in an image of the Virgin Mary, a Rabbitohs ball and the man himself.

Where former prime ministers have opted for grand works from Parliament House’s extensive art collection, Albanese hangs a drawing of beloved dog Toto sent to him by a fan. Beside it is a print from recently deceased Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist John Shakespeare imagining the PM proposing to fiancee Jodie Haydon.

Haydon, who Albanese is expected to wed during this term of parliament, features in at least three framed photographs, second only to his son. Nathan appears in images from across the years: as a laughing baby with his grandmother, Maryanne; a spectator at the MCG; and in a Sydney Swans jersey.

Then there’s the sports paraphernalia, with at least six balls from major Australian sporting codes. A rugby league ball commemorating the prime minister’s support for the code, a gift from the NRL, sits alongside a soccer ball from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Rabbitohs ball, a cricket ball in a glass case, and a signed red Sherrin AFL ball.

Next to bound volumes of parliamentary acts sits a haphazard pile of books, including domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty’s memoir Hope, Nelson Mandela’s Conversations with Myself and rising star of the Labor caucus Andrew Charlton’s Australia’s Pivot to India.

Tomes from other parliamentary party members, such as Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ Changing Jobs or Andrew Leigh’s Battlers and Billionaires, are not on obvious display.

The prime minister, who gets first pick on art from the parliamentary collection, selected two blue vases from Sydney glass artist Robert Wynne, whose work is found in the private collections of the Japanese royal family and former US president Bill Clinton.

Each prime minister brings their own touch to the office. For Scott Morrison, it was a metal statue of an asylum seeker boat emblazoned with the words “I Stopped These”. An official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II hung over his left shoulder.

The other monarch of the Liberal Party – Robert Menzies – looked over Tony Abbott in a foreboding sketch. Below sat a GWS Giants cap and a Manly Sea Eagles ball.

Malcolm Turnbull installed a standing desk for computer work and displayed a curated collection of books on Australian and international politics, art history and philosophy. There was also space for a copy of The Spycatcher Trial, authored by none other than Malcolm Turnbull.

Credit: Matt Golding

In 2009, deep in the trenches of the global financial crisis, Kevin Rudd was pictured at his desk, flanked by messy shelves of books and CDs. His leadership style rankled his colleagues so much they turfed him from the job.

Julia Gillard and John Howard took more minimalist approaches, with the latter hosting a potted plant and shelves of framed photos throughout his 11-year reign. Gillard kept two paintings hung by Rudd above his desk, but flipped their order in what could have been a nod to her political fortunes.

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