Plibersek, Chalmers in the wings as Albanese fights to make headway in polls

Anthony Albanese is personable, intelligent, compassionate. But this is a question the ALP will have to start asking if he can’t turn things around — and the clock is ticking.

Anthony Albanese listens as Tanya Plibersek speaks at a press conference last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Monique Harmer

Can you see yourself voting for Tanya Plibersek?

Obviously, that’s a privilege offered in practice only to voters in the federal Sydney seat she comfortably holds.

But were Plibersek to assume the leadership of the Labor Party, would you be more likely to cast your vote for a Labor candidate at the next federal election?

It’s a question the ALP will have to start asking if Anthony Albanese doesn’t quickly start to make some headway in the polls.

In case you missed it, Scott Morrison had it over him in the November 28 Newspoll. The margin in the “Better PM” stakes was 60-31 per cent.

Albo, as his friends and staff call him, wasn’t too disappointed. It was undoubtably difficult for him to do better than that, during COVID. Who wants to see the Opposition playing politics in a pandemic, when voters are rightly focused mainly on their physical and financial survival?

They also believe that Morrison is vulnerable.

The public largely approves of the Prime Minister’s handling of the health crisis, but he won’t be cushioned from criticism forever. If he mucks up the vaccine rollout? It already looks like Australia hasn’t ordered enough of the best vaccine.

Morrison plans to put an end to JobKeeper in March and that will not be popular. The borders might also be a weak spot: tens of thousands of Australians are stuck overseas, unable to return, but have you noticed that you also can’t leave?

Overseas travel is off the cards, and that’s got to hurt people, in particular the hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Indian-Australians, Chinese-Australians, and others with dual nationality, who want to go to their other home country and visit their relatives, get married, or show off their babies. Many want to bring surviving parents here.

The ALP needs to know if Albanese is the leader to take the debate to Morrison.

Perhaps unfortunately, leadership chatter was particularly intense during the week in which a P-plater in a Range Rover wrote off the Opposition Leader’s car.

In press conferences called to address his injuries, and thank hospital staff, he was suddenly asked to address remarks by CFMEU national political organiser Elizabeth Doidge, who said Plibersek had a better chance of leading Labor to victory.

“We definitely want a change of leadership. I’m not necessarily saying it needs to be Plibersek, but it definitely needs to be someone other than Anthony Albanese,” she said.

Mr Albanese said the story was “payback” over his fight with CFMEU leader John Setka.

“I just had a bit of a chuckle by myself, frankly, and don’t take it all that seriously,” he said.

Hmmm.

If the party do decide to replace Albo – not as easy as it used to be – the other name that comes up is Jim Chalmers, who is thought to be moderate enough to appeal to Labor’s base, which isn’t – as some in the party still seem to think – inner-city, identity-obsessed Green-Left voters.

They are not the majority. Middle-class people are the base.

Queenslander Jim Chalmers. Picture: Shae Beplate

Those on the Chalmers side of the argument say it doesn’t make much sense to swap one inner-Sydney leftie (Albo) for another inner-Sydney leftie (Plibersek), meaning Chalmers is a better bet.

He’s from Queensland.

He’s of the Right.

He’s current shadow treasurer.

Plibersek in 2019 ruled out a tilt at the leadership, citing family responsibilities (and, let’s be honest, probably also after counting the numbers.)

“Now is not my time,’’ she said.

Because the Left faction was at the time backing Albanese.

She wasn’t ruling it out for good. She is still young, having turned 51 in December. She is highly experienced, having been a cabinet minister during the Rudd and the Gillard years. She is ambitious, and likes being in government (nobody likes being in Opposition.)

She is also, like Albo, an immensely personable, intelligent, and compassionate person.

It has been a long time since either of them have truly lived on Struggle Street (she is married to a senior NSW bureaucrat; her household income could not be less than half a million a year.)

But then, he’s not in housing commission anymore, either.

Still, if the Left sticks with Albo – widely seen as still having more of the common touch – she will need support from the Right.

Is she seeking it?

Well, let’s look at the tea-leaves: why was Plibersek last year pushing for Australian children to pledge an oath of allegiance to Australia?

Why was she in October reminding Herald readers: “I’m culturally Catholic. There’s a lot about Catholicism I like. It sounds weird, but I like a Catholic funeral: people coming together, singing the hymns … I really like Pope Francis.”

Plibersek also told writer Benjamin Law that she was never convinced that Shorten would beat Morrison. She was nonetheless crushed when he lost.

“I felt ashamed that I’d let people down,” she said.

She knows that the ALP doesn’t often win federal elections. She may think she is their best bet.

Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell has said: “She wants it … There’s no doubt about that.”

At the same time, Albo hasn’t performed as well as people expected.

Yes, it’s true that he, like everyone, has endured a year like no other in history, so he probably has six months to prove he can make some inroads.

Plibersek is meanwhile talking about her friendship with Sky broadcaster Alan Jones, who often has her on his “after-dark” TV show.

How does he introduce her?

Well, since you asked, as “a future Labor leader”.