Back to the future as Anthony Albanese recruits Labor veteran David Epstein as party’s new Mr Fixit

The general assessment is that there has finally been a recognition that Albanese’s political management is in need of rescuing. Enter David Epstein, one of the few Labor operatives left in the game who knows how to win elections.

Anthony Albanese’s soon-to-be principal private secretary David Epstein.

Labor veteran David Epstein has seen it all. From the early years of Bob Hawke, the transition to Paul Keating, the implosion of Mark Latham and the rise of Kevin Rudd.

He has worked for five Labor leaders, three of them prime­ ministers.

Anthony Albanese will be his fourth.

Epstein has been instrumental to some of Labor’s great successes.

“He is also someone who has seen every f..k up,” a senior Labor source said of the confirmation this week that Epstein will start in March as the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary.

Epstein is one of few Labor operatives still around who knows how to win elections at a federal level. Albanese’s chief of staff Tim Gartrell is another. Both worked on the campaign to get Rudd elected – Epstein as Rudd’s chief of staff from 2007, Gartrell as Labor’s campaign director.

It’s no coincidence both will be once again working together.

The pair go back to the Latham period when Gartrell called in ­Epstein in the final two weeks to try to help rescue the then Labor leader from “blowing himself up”. By then, it was unsalvageable.

Epstein, who at 61 is two months older than Albanese, had worked for Kim Beazley as well. And before that, Hawke and Keating as director of the Ministerial Media group.

As one senior Labor operative noted, it was only after Epstein left Rudd in 2008 to work for Qantas that things started to go wrong for the government.

Epstein’s private sector interregnum included a stint at BHP and then Singtel/Optus. He also snuck back into the Labor HQ briefly in the 2022 election campaign to run a ruler over party strategy from central command.

The unintended leaking this week of news of Epstein’s impending appointment as Albanese’s principal private secretary, while universally welcomed, has also set tongues wagging about what it means.

Mr Epstein as chief of staff to prime minister Kevin Rudd on the train from Hiroshima to Kyoto, Japan, in 2009.

The general assessment is that there has finally been a recognition that Albanese’s political management is need of rescuing. The handling of the immigration detention disaster is but one example of incompetency at a ministerial level and a paralysis of response from the top. The confused response to anti-Semitism following the Hamas terrorist attack is another.

Having worked over summer on a policy response to the cost of living, which resulted in altering the stage 3 tax cuts, Albanese was persuaded by the argument that a corrosive internal problem needed to be addressed as well.

“He needs someone to tell him exactly where the landmines are,” says a Labor insider.

“He is surrounded by young, ambitious ideologues,” said another Labor source.

“Some are arrogant but won’t tell Albanese he is wrong.

“Epstein is a professional operative rather than an ideologue.

“And there are too many ideologies around at the moment.”

Those close to the appointment see Epstein’s role as one focused solely on “brand Albo” rather than his appointment representing a shake-up of the prime minister’s office.

Yet it’s no coincidence that Albanese has also brought back a former Rudd spin doctor in Fiona Sugden. With the addition of press gallery journalist Katharine Murphy, Albanese’s PMO is now larger than most of his predecessors but it was gaining a poor reputation in some circles for its effectiveness and utility.

“Albanese has some massive decisions to make this year,” says another senior Labor source.

“There are two state elections coming up before the next federal one (Queensland and Western Australia).

“There will be a temptation to see the results of these as part of a reflection on Albanese.

“They have to get this budget to do the way, and they needed to prevent more border and national security disasters.”

The Prime Minister’s chief of staff Tim Gartrell. Picture: James Croucher

The history of the principal private secretary is based on a British model that morphed into the chief of staff role in the Australian context. Hawke was the last Labor prime minister to have one before the party abandoned the role.

The Liberal Party kept the tradition, until Peta Credlin took charge of Tony ­Abbott’s office.

Malcolm Turnbull retained one.

And Scott Morrison stuck to the model by bringing in Yaron Finkelstein – then global campaign head for Crosby Textor – primarily to help win an election.

After that, it was all about strategy and about political management.

Finkelstein likens the division of roles within a PMO to the medical profession.

“The PPS is a specialist role. While a lot of work is done by a GP, sometimes you need to bring in a specialist for a particular type of disease,” he says. “The question is what is the problem they are bringing Epstein back to fix.”

In Epstein’s case, it is likely both.

Another Labor source said Epstein’s role was probably more akin to that of a sheep dog.

While Albanese was adamant about not repeating the mistakes of the Rudd/Gillard era by establishing a more collaborative and collegial cabinet process, some ministers appear to have been given too much rope.

Epstein’s role will likely involve bringing a sharper focus to the discipline of the ministry.

“The thing is that after the disaster of the voice and wasting of 18 months in office, they suddenly realise they have a lot of work to do,” says another former Labor operative.

“I’d describe the task as not dissimilar to Hawke’s in the mid to late 80s, the establishment of a collaborative style of cabinet but needing to apply some strategic discipline,” says another Labor source close to the Prime Minister. “This requires central guidance without going too far to the extreme of having someone going around monstering ministers.”

Veteran Labor campaigner Bruce Hawker said he could not recall anyone with the political longevity of Epstein within the Labor movement.

“That says a lot about his ability to manage tough issues,” says Hawker.

“When your pedigree goes right back to the Hawke years, it means you’ve seen it all.

“And that is invaluable to the PM as his government enters its critical third year in office.

“For Tim Gartrell, the pressure of running the highest political ­office in the nation is unceasing.

“Time is the enemy. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

“So for him to have a second set of eyes and ears means the planning of actions and responses can be more measured.

“Epstein is a steely, old school straight talker.

“No one will be in any doubt as to his views. I think that’s a good thing, too.”