Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation sets scene for leadership challenge

The key messaging from Joel Fitzgibbon on Tuesday morning was strategic and damaging for Anthony Albanese,. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from Labor’s frontbench sets the scene for a leadership challenge before the next election.

The key messaging from Fitzgibbon on Tuesday morning was strategic and damaging for Anthony Albanese, who has failed to control his Left faction MPs on climate change and energy policy.

The Hunter MP, and national convener of the Right faction, says Labor can’t do anything on climate change unless it wins elections. And the only way to win, was to present policies that appealed to blue collar workers in Queensland and Western Australia.

Pressure was building on Albanese ahead of his first Budget reply speech last month. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

We’ve seen this movie before. The stalking horse moves, and the contenders emerge.

Pressure was building on Albanese ahead of his first Budget reply speech last month.

The Opposition leader had been warned by colleagues, the AWU and CFMEU, both publicly and privately, to bring factional ally Mark Butler and other Left MPs in-line on gas and climate change.

Fitzgibbon, who underwent a political resurrection after almost losing the Hunter Valley seat he first won in 1996, said he regretted not running against Albanese for the leadership after last year’s election. Labor’s powerful Right faction vacated the field, handing the top job on a platter to the Left.

Joel Fitzgibbon and Anthony Albanese during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House. Picture: AAP

Despite a series of values statements and political rhetoric from Albanese, the Right faction has grown tired of their leader’s policy strategy and parliamentary tactics.

The unrest has gathered momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Albanese fell into the Twitter-trap, a toxic bubble that has no bearing on the lives of Australian voters.

Fitzgibbon, who committed to running at the next election, has laid out his alternative manifesto. Support tax cuts for all Australians. Support coal and gas workers. And jettison Labor’s climate obsession.

The Queensland election shone a light on how the ALP can win back regional Queensland, which has been a wasteland for federal Labor since 2013.

Fitzgibbon, who started sending out his own media releases and transcripts last-week after becoming frustrated with Albanese’s office, has brought colleagues with him as he waged a one-man battle to drag Labor back to the centre.

“I’ve been trying to put labour back into the Labor Party,” Fitzgibbon said.

At a meeting in Canberra on Monday night, Labor’s Left faction slammed Fitzgibbon’s public commentary and criticism of colleagues as “doing Scott Morrison’s work for him”.

Fitzgibbon says he will consider challenging Albanese if he was “drafted” and claims a substantial number of colleagues shared his concerns over the Opposition’s approach to climate change.

Albanese will slot Sydney-based MP Ed Husic – Fitzgibbon’s NSW Right replacement – into the resources and agriculture portfolio before considering a wider reshuffle after Morrison unveils his ministerial line-up in early December.

But if Albanese can’t improve and cut-through with mainstream policies, Fitzgibbon could have a shot or pave the way for a cross-factional coalition to make its move by the middle of next year.