ALP should have left Anthony Albanese on the shelf

Illustration: John Tiedemann

There is talk in Coalition and Labor ranks that Scott Morrison may go to an early election, in about two years, in late 2021, rather than wait until mid-2022 when an election for the House of Representatives and half the Senate normally would be due. Why? Because he knows he has Anthony Albanese’s measure.

In more than five months since the election Albanese has done next to nothing to demonstrate that Labor has learned anything, changed course on policy or strategy, or put his stamp on the party in any noticeable way. His office is talking up a 1990s-style “headland” speech next week. Is that it?

A Labor frontbencher told me: “For a guy who wanted to be leader so bad, and couldn’t wait to announce he was running for it less than 24 hours after the election, he does not know what to do with the job.” Labor MPs think the party is paralysed, directionless and in denial about the election. The “general view” is that Albanese has turned out to be worse than most thought.

For a party that has received less than 35 per cent of the vote at the past three elections, the need for a wholesale review of policies, organisation and campaigning is evident. Labor’s post-election review is due next month. A lot, it seems, is riding on it. But parties need to be led. Albanese should be championing a new direction as many on his frontbench have. What is he waiting for?

Bill Shorten was at least able to manage his party. Picture: Kym Smith

Labor MPs often cringe over Albanese’s tactics and strategy. Labor usually opposes Coalition policies but votes for them anyway — the “big stick” energy laws are the latest example. Border protection is the third rail of Australian politics. Yet Albanese campaigned against the deportation of a Tamil asylum-seeker family from Biloela in central Queensland, even though the vast majority of voters support the government’s tough border protection policies.

The absurd parliamentary motion seeking to declare a “climate emergency” is symptomatic of Albanese’s leadership. While climate change is a serious challenge for Australia and the world, and must be addressed, this is empty rhetoric. What is Labor’s policy to reduce carbon emissions? It doesn’t have one. Labor looks like it is being run by the loony left.

Joel Fitzgibbon, from Labor’s NSW Right faction, did more than most to ensure Albanese became leader. His call for the opposition to adopt the government’s emissions reduction target of 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 — supported by the Australian Workers Union — would be a sensible repositioning.

Instead, Albanese allowed his factional buddy, Mark Butler, to throw Fitzgibbon under the bus and line up with the Greens and independents to support declaring a “climate emergency”. Butler advocated a 45 per cent reduction target by 2030 at the election but failed to outline what this would cost or the economic impact. To working-class voters — who deserted Labor at the last election — this signals job losses and higher energy bills.

It is telling that Daniel Andrews felt the need to mark out a different approach from Albanese’s federal Labor. “What we are about is not motions and words, but actions,” the Victorian Labor Premier said last week. “No such motion has been moved in this parliament, and that may be a point of difference between our government and the opposition in Canberra. Action is always better than simple posturing.” Ouch.

Joel Fitzgibbon, right, has been chafing against his party’s emissions target. Picture: AAP

But did you hear the news? “I’m not a member of a faction,” Albanese said to startled journalists on Sunday. This will also come as a surprise to those in the NSW Labor Left who have seen Albanese at meetings for 40 years. Indeed, Albanese has been a state party official, national executive member and factional powerbroker for generations. What next? We should believe in Santa Claus?

A faction man, Albanese, should know how to manage the party. But union leaders have been critical of Labor’s support for free trade agreements with Hong Kong, Indonesia and Peru. ACTU president Michele O’Neil said Labor had “made a mistake” that would “not be forgotten by workers”. The opposition should support the free trade deals but managing unions, and negotiating outcomes, is a key part of leading Labor.

A smarter leader also would not have allowed three of his MPs to come within a whisker of being expelled from the Northern Territory branch last weekend. As my colleague Greg Brown reported, Luke Gosling, Malarndirri McCarthy and Warren Snowdon were almost expelled because of their support for the trade deals. Wiser heads, only narrowly, prevailed.

Bill Shorten had many faults but he could manage a party. He once told me he understood the party better than Kevin Rudd or Julia Gillard, and most of their predecessors. Shorten was a supreme deal-maker. None of it mattered, of course, when it came to the election. But he kept Labor united for most of the six years he was at the helm.

As the latest Newspoll confirms, it is not going well for Albanese. Within a few months of becoming opposition leader in 2013, Shorten had a positive net approval rating and Labor led the Coalition. There has been no sustained poll bounce for Albanese. His personal ratings continue to sink and Labor is stuck on an un­electable 33 per cent primary vote. It seems voters have made up their minds. Albanese lacks authority and credibility. It goes from bad to worse. While those who doubted his ambition matched his ability are not surprised, some who strongly supported his elevation are having second thoughts. It is called buyer’s remorse.

In any case, he may have only two years left in the job.