Anthony Albanese at risk of repeating poll loss, says Labor think tank

Head of a Labor-aligned think tank issues extraordinary warning, says the party lacks ruthlessness, discipline and decisive leadership.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: Gary Ramage

The head of a Labor-aligned think tank has warned Anthony Albanese risks “sleepwalking to yet another defeat” unless there is a considerable reset over summer, saying the party lacks ruthlessness, disciplined messaging and decisive leadership.

John Curtin Research Centre executive director Nick Dyrenfurth likened the party’s prospects under Mr Albanese to those under former leader Simon Crean, who struggled in the polls since taking on the role after the 2001 election only to be replaced by Mark Latham.

“Unless action is taken, this period will be regarded as akin to the interregnum under Simon Crean (2001-03), when Labor wandered in the wilderness under a well-regarded former cabinet minister, before terminating his leadership with ­extreme prejudice,” Mr Dyrenfurth wrote.

The paper was one of many essays in a volume titled “In the Pandemic’s Wake: Rethinking the Future of Progressive Politics” and which was compiled by the John Curtin Institute in partnership with progressive think tanks in Canada and Britain. “All is not lost, but change is urgently needed. Federal Labor must use the summer break to reset its political strategy, policy priorities and messaging. If not, every option is on the table,” he wrote.

Mr Dyrenfurth and Australian Workers Union assistant national secretary Misha Zelinsky this month released a book of essays by Right-faction Labor figures who were calling for Labor to stake out the political centre, including ALP president Wayne Swan and frontbenchers Richard Marles, Bill Shorten, Chris Bowen, Kristina Keneally, Jim Chalmers, Michelle Rowland Matt Keogh, Ed Husic and Clare O’Neil.

In his essay to be released on the weekend, Mr Dyrenfurth, who argues the government is being propped up by Scott Morrison’s personal popularity, wrote it was “difficult to avoid the impression that federal Labor is sleepwalking to yet another defeat at the next election”.

“Which would be its fourth consecutive loss and eighth in the last 10 elections,” Mr Dyrenfurth wrote. “It lacks ruthlessness, disciplined messaging, and decisive leadership. There is little appetite for policy renewal.

“Nor has there been any ­renewal of its parliamentary ranks. Football clubs don’t lose four grand finals in a row before changing the team and nor should political parties. Yet no injection of talent is on the cards for Labor.”

Mr Dyrenfurth wrote Labor was giving the impression it was “intent on prosecuting many ­debates of the 2019 election, if not the outcome”.

“By implication Labor still ­believes it was swindled and had the better set of policies on offer (which it did, but this is irrelevant politically),” Mr Dyrenfurth wrote.

“Labor has failed to create a national mood for changing the government, despite scoring several tangible policy ‘wins’.

“It remains wedded to a ‘progressive’ framing of issues, continues to struggle to reconcile the needs of its working-class and progressive middle-class constituencies, and is distracted by culture wars and identity ­politics.”