Labor review: Anthony Albanese says voters resented Bill Shorten’s election agenda

In his first public response to the poll review, Anthony Albanese unveils a renewal plan for the ALP, saying the party needs to change.

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese at the National Press Club today. Picture: AAP

Anthony Albanese will move to dump Bill Shorten’s unpopular franking credits tax reform as part of an overhaul of ALP policies, pre-empting a smaller election strategy targeting traditional Labor voters.

In his first response to the damning ALP campaign review, the Opposition Leader unveiled a four-stage Labor renewal project to ­reform the party and pledged to change the “substance” of its policy platform, conceding voters “resented” the franking credits crackdown. Mr Albanese said Labor’s policy agenda would be reshaped around five themes, ­focusing on jobs and a strong economy, a fair Australia, infrastructure, climate change action and standing up for Australia’s national interests in a globalised world. He also promised to “change the culture of our party and ­ensure we are worthy of the people’s respect and trust”.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Friday for the first time as leader, Mr Albanese said he wasn’t “interested in excuses” and admitted Labor had “got it wrong”.

“Not everything was wrong, of course, but enough was. We lost an election, which, given the chaos on the other side, we should have won,” he said. “So our agenda must change.”

Senior Labor sources told The Weekend Australian that “getting the language right” was crucial ahead of the ALP national conference, which Mr Albanese has brought forward to December next year. “We need to go through a process. The franking credits policy brought in revenue, which would have paid for our spending prom­ises. Some of those will now be reassessed,” a Labor source said.

Mr Albanese is expected to focus his 2022 election agenda on education, health, aged care and ­infrastructure, including high-speed rail to “tackle urban congestion, promote decentralisation and build stronger regions”.

The Left-faction powerbroker said there was “obvious resentment towards some of our 2019 election policies”. “Whilst the call on the budget of franking credit arrangements is large, many small investors felt blindsided and it opened up a scare campaign,” he said.

Mr Albanese pointed to a conversation he had with a pensioner during the campaign who thought she would be hit by the policy, ­despite not owning shares.

Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson, who waged a campaign against Mr Shorten’s franking credits crackdown, said Mr Albanese should ­immediately junk the policy.

“It’s extremely disappointing that Mr Albanese has failed to drop the franking credits policy, particularly after Mr Shorten was honest enough to acknowledge he would’ve taken a different position on it,” he said. Mr Wilson added that Labor’s policy had caused “anxiety and stress” for senior Australians and to leave the axe hanging over their heads showed a “lack of leadership”.

Housing Industry Association managing director Graham Wolfe also called on Mr Albanese to halt Labor’s “attack on capital gains tax and negative gearing”.

“One of the main issues that had a resounding effect on the election outcome was the policy to target housing and housing affordability by reducing the capital gains tax and negative gearing incentives,” he said.

Mr Albanese used his response to the Emerson-Weatherill review to announce it was the first stage of a four-step renewal project.

Heading towards 2022, Mr ­Albanese said he would spend the coming months outlining his vision before rewriting Labor’s platform and releasing new policies closer to the election. “We’re not going to make the mistake of rushing it and putting out all our policies before we know the economic and political context of the next election.”

Mr Albanese said during the campaign voters had told him they “resented being called ‘the top end of town’ when they came from backgrounds much like my own”.

“I heard them say that Labor needed to be more in touch with the realities of the modern economy and the difficulties of running a small business. I say to those ­people, I hear you. We hear you.”

With senior Labor MPs ­acknowledging Australian voters didn’t trust them to run the economy, Mr Albanese said the ALP must update its approach to ­modern workplaces and economic pressures.

“As we approach the third decade of the 21st century, our Labor agenda must differ from the days when only a handful of people were university-educated and over half the workforce were members of ­unions. And that Labor agenda has been changed by 28 years of un­interrupted economic growth.”

Mr Albanese said his policy platform would focus on five key themes headed by “jobs and strong economy that works for people, not the other way around”.

He also re-emphasised Labor’s commitment to climate change ­action, but reiterated it needed to recognise “this is an opportunity as well as a threat”.

He said it was important to have a foreign policy that “stands up for our national interests in the globalised world while recognising our three policy pillars of support for multilateralism, regional engagement as well as the US alliance”.

Bill Shorten and wife Chloe on election night. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Former Labor MP Craig Emerson, right, and Jay Weatherill listen Mr Albanese speak at the press club. Picture: AAP