Anthony Albanese realises that being Opposition Leader was never meant to be easy

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is clearly enjoying Question Time. Picture: AAP

Mandate validated? Simon Benson, The Weekend Australian, Saturday:

It has taken just 47 days for Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg to deliver on the Coalition’s central election promise. This is a considerable political triumph and the unquestionable validation of a mandate … if Labor says no to tax cuts, what does Labor say yes to? ­Anthony Albanese hedged his bets and stepped out of the way.

Samantha Maiden, The New Daily, June 2:

Labor frontbenchers fear the party is “politically dead” if it blocks tax relief and the wrong decision could haunt Mr Albanese’s leadership.

Blame the media, SBS, Friday:

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has denied capitulating on tax policy, blaming the media for “misrepresenting” Labor’s decision to vote in favour of the government’s three-stage package.

The Guardian Australia, Friday:

Anthony Albanese has defended Labor’s position … as entirely consistent, despite the party voting to pass the legislation, including elements it labelled economically irresponsible … Labor voted to pass the government’s entire $158bn tax package, which already had the numbers from the crossbench … Albanese has defended Labor’s attempt to walk both sides of the debate. “You’ve got to follow the play … what we always said was that stage one was something we always supported … We didn’t change our position.”

Steepled fingers at The Australian Financial Review, Friday:

The Morrison government, and potentially future governments, will need to exhibit spending discipline to afford the tax cuts and avoid driving the budget into a sustained deficit.

Van Badham, The Guardian Australia, Friday:

The popular support Labor’s new leader, Anthony Albanese, enjoyed long before he even gained the leadership was based on a reputation for “fighting Tories”. Those who yearned for a dog in the political brawl who would show more teeth … have just watched their political animal enter its first actual fight, and roll over.

5AA Radio Adelaide, June 30:

Albanese has publicly declared one of the reasons for (Bill) Shorten’s defeat at the May 18 election was he had “too many policies” and voters were confused and overwhelmed. “I don’t think if it’s a matter of left or right. I think we had too much. The agenda was too big … They didn’t understand all of it. I think last week there was something came out from the Parliamentary Budget Office that was pretty interesting. They costed 50-something policies from the government, 50 or thereabouts policies for the Greens party and 280-something from us. So there’s a range of people who knew that we were changing franking credits, for example. They knew other changes that we were bringing in.”

The Daily Mail Australia, Sunday:

The nine Greens senators who voted against the package all received a base annual salary of $207,100. They are Richard Di Natale, Larissa Waters, Mehreen Faruqi, Jordon Steele-John, Rachel Siewart, Janet Rice, Nick McKim, Sarah Hanson-Young and Peter Whish-Wilson. Di Natale spoke against the package, and slammed Labor for (its) decision to support it. ‘What a disgrace … The Labor Party, for 100 years supported progressive taxation, are now saying “we are with the neo-liberals” … People held high hopes for Anthony Albanese, and if this is a sign of where … Labor is going … well, frankly, we’re stuffed.’