Nathan Albanese walking to work with Dad signals another image remake for PM
There was a breath of fresh heir in Canberra on Monday when Nathan Albanese made a rare public appearance. Braving the freezing conditions in a Normcore uniform accompanying his dad for his first day at work as the leader of the 48th parliament.
The son of Anthony Albanese and former NSW deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt is Labor royalty. He’s as precious as the Imperial State Crown for the Prime Minister as he kicks off his second term as leader with a pep in his step as he looks to approach governing in a more relaxed, open collar mode this time around.
The legislative agenda is vast. Political clouds are brewing. There’s a lot of work to be done, future-proofing everything from the economy to AUKUS to childcare to social cohesion, let alone controlling the ALP’s swollen caucus and managing swaths of chatty and restless backbenchers.
Yet there is an element of casualness and candour about Mr Albanese this time around. We saw it in China last week, and we copped an eyeful of it on Commonwealth Avenue as an equally laidback Nathan strolled casually with his old man amid the seriousness of the suits of the PM’s protection unit.
Mr Albanese approached the top job in 2022 with guarded caution, undergoing a “glow up” image refresh with a new wardrobe, a natty hair cut and an appearance on the cover of InStyle fashion magazine before the election where he rolled Scott Morrison.
Mr Albanese, a political animal since he was a mere pup kicking around Marrickville in the 1990s, was controlled and sharp in his comments and demeanour. He snapped more at journalists than an old Saltie croc and kept his private life just that.
We didn’t even know he loved tennis so much until an eagle-eyed voter captured him working on his backhand in Perth’s exclusive suburbs as police in Melbourne combed through the evidence of the Adass Israel Synagogue fire bombing last year.
There were glimpses of his human side with a surprise engagement to his charming fiance Jodie Haydon. Yet even that announcement was more stage-managed and awkward than Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s, with minimal questions from a skeletal press corps and posing for mere seconds for photos before they dashed back inside The Lodge to celebrate with Toto the dog.
This time, he’s appeared to let his hair down somewhat. It could be the influence of the plethora of unofficial “millennial advisers” he has around him, like Communications Minister Anika Wells and his assistant minister, Perth MP Patrick Gorman, who both blend their private family life, public duties and social media presence with aplomb.
Or it could be he is most confident given the polls keep coming up Albanese.
In China, he embraced Panda diplomacy in a polo as Ms Haydon made the clever, and chic, decision to wear a dress by Chinese-Australian design house Leo Lin.
Optics are everything in public life. Mr Albanese knows that. The visuals of kids supporting their political parents is something else and adds an enormous weight to MPs, giving them the human touch. It also puts a lot of pressure on the people who didn’t choose that life.
Look at how that went in the White House. The Obama girls are now hounded for just being young women living their own lives in private. Ivanka Trump was banished from New York society for her role in her father’s first administration.
The image on Monday outside Parliament House was of a close father and son spending rare, precious time together. Time is a thief. No one feels that more acutely than working parents.
Nathan, a private citizen, pops up when the moment calls for it, like election nights and important events, and as he did on Sunday, by taking a trip to Government House with Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon.
“They (Nathan and Jodie) give up a lot. As do all the families of your representatives. Whether you’re elected for the first time or on multiple occasions, your families won’t see as much of you as they would like and you won’t see as much of them as you would like.
You come back – for the little ones, you come back home after a week sitting and there will be changes in your sons or daughters or the children that you care for and missing out on those moments is a big deal. It’s a big sacrifice for them as well as for you,” Mr Albanese told his colleagues, from across the political spectrum, on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Nathan will also be front and centre on Tuesday for the pomp and ceremony of parliament’s official opening. Yet he is more into ASICS sneakers than the machinations of the things like ASIC. Hanging out with his dad when he can is as close as he wishes to get to politics. Right now at least.
Instead he’s busy working for the Commonwealth Bank and, according to sources, prefers frequenting the same haunts his dad used to, like the odd live gig at The Enmore.
There are divided opinions on how Mr Albanese approaches politics, but for his KPIs as a dad, it’s pretty clear it’s a job well done.
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