After an aggressive first day of parliament for 2024, Anthony Albanese toned down his anger and turned up the humour – although he got caught by the punchline to his own joke, with even Labor MPs laughing at him “not being able to handle the truth”.
Instead of personal attacks on Peter Dutton, angry derision of the Coalition and clenched fists being thrust into the air in response to being called the “liar in The Lodge”, the Prime Minister provided calmer responses.
It was a better look for Albanese personally and a more disciplined rendition of “everyone gets a tax cut” as he sought to seem more positive on a day when Labor could claim another big win on pay and workers’ conditions.
On Tuesday, Albanese suggested the Opposition Leader’s smile was akin to that of Jack Nicholson in the horror film The Shining but on Wednesday he broadened the Nicholson film theme attack to the “divided” Coalition and declared the Liberals’ movies wouldn’t be Terms of Endearment or A Few Good Men.
It was a funny, softer criticism without the anger but it turned sour for Albanese when Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan came to take a point of order and (out of order) simply yelled Nicholson’s famous line from a Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth”.
For a PM facing question after question about not telling the truth, breaking promises and who couldn’t be trusted, it was a piercing parliamentary jibe that got Tehan ejected but also got him applause, cheers and unbridled laughter from most MPs, including some of Albanese’s colleagues.
Albanese was even called back to order by Speaker Milton Dick, who told him it was parliament and not the Academy Awards.
While tax was still the government’s top priority and only issue in the House of Representatives question time, Tony Burke’s workplace reforms were being ticked off by the Senate crossbench, despite employer resistance and earlier expectations of a Senate blockade.
The pending passage of the latest group of worker and union requests gives the Albanese government its full agenda on industrial relations. As contentious as Burke’s plans have been during 2023 and as insistent as some independent and Greens senators have been about demanding big changes, the Workplace Relations Minister has essentially delivered on Labor’s promises to workers and the unions.
The key to Labor’s success on these industrial relations changes on workers’ rights, pay and union power has been its superior ability to deal behind closed doors with independent senators and get the numbers to pass the laws on the floor of the Senate.
At times big business has been compliant or prepared to trade but in the end the Albanese government has succeeded because of its ruthless exploitation of the parliamentary system and the immutable law of numbers.
No matter what employers may say about the changes, including some that business negotiations ameliorated, they are a Labor success story.
Certainly, the rate of success in the Senate for Albanese, Burke and Labor is greater than that of the Morrison government when faced with a similar blockade.
And the reason for that basically comes down to the parliamentary experience and attitude of the prime ministers and ministers of the day. Scott Morrison has been in parliament about half the time of Albanese and Burke, who are creatures of the parliament: they know how to deal with independents and minor parties when numbers count.
When the pips are squeaking, experience counts. That’s what’s delivered Labor’s IR agenda.
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