‘I’m a reformist, not a revolutionary,’ Anthony Albanese says
Anthony Albanese says there’s unfinished business to see to and he doesn’t plan on going anywhere, as he reveals his hardest decision, what drives him and the election choice for voters.
It is midafternoon at Kirribilli House, the Sydney residence of the Prime Minister, with its sweeping views of the harbour. Ferries go past and sailors catch the wind, the sky is a stunning blue and the autumn sun is shining. A slim and fit Anthony Albanese bounds out to the veranda above the sloping lawn as Toto, his pet cavoodle, joins us hoping for a walk.
“I regard the Lodge as home,” Albanese, 62, says as we look out to a panorama that spans from the Royal Botanic Garden and Garden Island naval dockyard to Fort Denison and glimpse Bradleys Head in the distance. “But I do like to walk Toto over to Admiralty House. I don’t take it for granted.”
As talk drifts to the campaign, Albanese notes the past seven elections have produced a different prime minister. “I certainly want to serve out the full term,” he says. “If I’m re-elected, I’m up for the job … I’m conscious about continuity.” The election starter gun is fired.
It is three years since Albanese led Labor to power and he now faces his toughest test: winning re-election. Australians have endured a cost-of-living crisis and many are grumpy, there are budget pressures and long-term policy challenges at home, and insecurity and uncertainty abroad.
In a revealing and wide-ranging interview, Albanese says:
● He is confident Labor will secure majority government at the election.
● His hardest decision was changing the stage three tax cuts.
● His Catholic faith gives him solace and strength.
● He feels a responsibility to live up to the opportunities his mother gave him.
● He would serve a full term as prime minister if re-elected.
We walk inside the gothic-style villa with gabled roof, beige walls and green-trimmed windows. It was purchased by Billy Hughes’s government in 1920 for overseas visitors but became a magnet for prime ministers since Robert Menzies. In the drawing room there are photos of fiancee Jodie Haydon, son Nathan, friends and the King.
As the Prime Minister relaxes in the lounge, what stands out after three years in the top job is how “all-encompassing it is”. It is a significant step up from being a minister (2007-13) and deputy prime minister (2013). It demands being across “how varied things are”, able to “deal with unanticipated events” but also “determined to try to stay the course” to deliver your agenda.
That many ministers had prior experience helped restore “proper cabinet government” after the “disorderly chaos” under Scott Morrison, Albanese says. There have been no ministerial resignations due to scandal. He devours information, shows me his phone with only two unanswered emails and all messages responded to, underscoring how much he prizes administrative efficiency.
The essential quality needed in a prime minister, Albanese says, is to be “a person of your word” who can engage constructively with premiers, business, community and union leaders, and everyday Australians. “You need to be able to say what you can do, but also say what you can’t do,” he says, drinking a flat white. “I’m someone who can engage in a pub or a boardroom and that matters when you are in a position of national leadership.”
The hardest decision these past three years was to redesign the $359bn 10-year income tax cut package to give additional relief to low and middle-income earners. “That was hard because I knew that would bring criticism and about my integrity,” he says. “I was convinced it was the right thing to do at a time when there were cost-of-living pressures.”
Albanese does not spend much time second-guessing decisions. “I’m not perfect,” he says. “There are lots of things you could do differently. This job has too much attached to it to lay awake at night re-prosecuting in your own head what you could have done differently. The question is: do you learn from things?”
Morrison revealed he was prescribed medication to help with anxiety. Albanese says he is lucky to have Haydon and Nathan, Toto and longstanding friends in his life to help him unwind and de-stress. He drops the needle on a record, watches rugby league and picks up a book from time to time. His Catholic faith is also a source of solace and strength.
“I regard myself as a flawed Catholic but it’s a part of my values,” he says. “I go to church occasionally just by myself. That sense of who I am, it is certainly how I was raised, and those values of kindness and compassion being something that is a strength.”
The memory of his mother, Maryanne, a single parent and disability pensioner who raised him in a Housing Commission home, is always with him. “I feel an incredible sense of responsibility to make the most of the opportunity that I have and I have that opportunity because of sacrifices that were made by my mum to keep me and raise me, and to instil in me a confidence that I could be successful in life,” he says.
The Albanese government has not been idle. Although there needs to be significant fiscal consolidation and debt reduction, and far less interventionist industry and labour market policies, and tax reform is on the backburner, it has managed to lower inflation while keeping unemployment low, avoiding a recession, and to increase real wages. This is core business for Labor. Albanese notes income tax cuts, pay rises for care economy workers, aged-care reforms, investments in GP bulk billing and reducing the cost of medicines, boosting school funding in return for improved student performance, fee-free technical education and student debt reduction, and funding the trilateral AUKUS agreement.
It seems to be a challenge, though, stitching this together in a persuasive narrative that explains the overall mission and purpose of these policy choices and the values behind them.
Albanese has lagged Peter Dutton in net approval in the polls and Labor has been well behind the Coalition, although these numbers have improved in recent weeks.
“Some of those big reforms, I think, don’t get the same coverage as some of the clickbait, which is just a product of modern media,” Albanese says.
He notes that voters have experienced difficulties with the pandemic and inflation. “So, it’s not an easy time to be in government,” he says, “but it’s a good time to be in government because you can make a difference.”
I put it to Albanese that, according to polling, a large proportion of the electorate – more than 40 per cent – see him as a weak leader. “We have had the guts to change the tax cuts,” he says. “We have had the guts to hold a referendum – that’s a strong thing to do.” And leading a united team is evidence of “strength of leadership”.
The Prime Minister defends putting the voice referendum forward but vows no further attempts to amend the Constitution. Forget a republic. Neither will Labor lower the voting age to 16. Purchasing a $4.3m clifftop house with Haydon at Copacabana on the NSW central coast was “personal”, not “political”, he says, and people understand this given their impending marriage.
He rejects claims by some Jewish leaders he has not been strong enough on anti-Semitism. “We have called it out absolutely consistently and we will continue to,” he says. “I’ve been someone who’s been an opponent of racism in all its forms, including anti-Semitism, my whole life.”
Australia’s main security ally led by Donald Trump has imposed punitive tariffs and praised authoritarian regimes, and European leaders say they can no longer rely on the US for defence. Our main economic partner, China under Xi Jinping, has used intimidatory and coercive tactics against us. Is it time to reassess these relationships?
“The alliance with the US is important,” Albanese says. “It’s a relationship not just between leaders; it’s a relationship between nations. My response has been to engage constructively with the (Trump) administration. That doesn’t mean that we allow our foreign policy to be determined by anyone.
“With regard to China, we have strategic competition in the region. We acknowledge that China has differences with us, but it hasn’t changed my view that we will co-operate with China where we can, we’ll disagree where we must and we engage in our national interest.”
Addressing low productivity is critical for raising living standards. Albanese is optimistic that artificial intelligence, quantum computing and clean technology manufacturing such as “green steel” and “green aluminium” provide the solution alongside investments in infrastructure, education and boosting workforce participation. “We need to make sure that new technology, including AI, works for people, not the other way around,” he says. “New technology, if harnessed, has an enormous opportunity for us.”
On the one-year anniversary of his prime ministership, Albanese told me he wanted to lead an activist government that fundamentally changed Australia. “You can’t do that in just one term,” he notes. Some Labor true believers want a bolder government. “I am a reformist, not a revolutionary.”
Before I leave, Albanese shows me his office with a Rabbitohs sign above the door, shelves filled with books, memorabilia and mementos, a painting of his mother in the corridor and her ceramic dolls, teapot, cups and saucers in a cabinet. Albanese radiates confidence. “I intend to lead a majority government and I am confident that we can,” he says. There is unfinished business. He does not plan on going anywhere.
“I go into an election campaign,” he says, “being proud of our record but also understanding that it is not the end of the story or even in the middle, that it is just the beginning.”
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