Anthony Albanese to adopt ‘less is more’ strategy with Jacinta Allan during election campaign

Anthony Albanese is expected to distance himself from Jacinta Allan and her embattled state Labor government to try to avert a voter backlash in its heartland state of Victoria.

Anthony Albanese is set to adopt a minimalist election strategy when it comes to Victorian Labor Premier Jacinta Allan. Picture: David Geraghty/NewsWire

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Anthony Albanese is expected to distance himself from Jacinta Allan and her embattled state Labor government as the federal ALP attempts to avert a voter backlash in its traditional heartland state of Victoria.

The Australian understands while Labor plans for the Prime Minister to bask in the glow of popular Labor premiers Peter Malinauskas in South Australia and Roger Cook in Western Australia, the party concedes it has no option but to adopt a minimalist strategy when it comes to the ­Victorian Premier.

Federal Labor – which holds 24 of Victoria’s 39 lower house electorates – senses the ALP brand is on the nose in Victoria, forcing it to mount a defensive campaign to save as many seats as possible.

Central to this strategy is keeping Albanese-Allan double acts during the campaign to a bare minimum but stopping short of putting the Premier in the freezer and risk fuelling an image of ­internal division.

With multiple polls showing as many as eight Labor seats in Victoria – Aston, Casey, Chisholm and Corangamite among them – in danger of being lost, a less-is-more Allan strategy has strong support among federal Labor MPs.

Premier Jacinta Allan at the launch of an economic growth statement. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“I haven’t heard someone say we’re avoiding the Premier … but clearly we want people focusing more on the federal campaign and the federal competition more so than the state government,” one Labor MP said.

“It’s obvious that our position in Victoria is not what it was at the height of Daniel Andrews’ powers.”

Concern among federal Labor MPs that they could be punished at the forthcoming election by voters angry at the Allan Labor government have intensified in the wake of last month’s by-election thrashing in Werribee.

Labor’s primary vote crashed 16 per cent in the once safe outer western suburban electorate, leaving the Allan government clinging to the seat as voters vented their anger.

“The Liberals didn’t win Werribee, but we’re the ones who lost 16 per cent of our primary vote so if we’re not humble about that, we’re insane,” one Labor MP said.

“People have done it tough, so therefore how can you be surprised that people are looking for more help and more answers, and if people don’t feel like we’ve done enough they’re going to look ­elsewhere.”

The collapse of the party’s primary vote, albeit in a state by-election, sent shockwaves through federal Labor in Victoria, sparking concerns the party faces a revolt in outer-suburban seats.

One Labor MP said the party was “very worried” about the ­federal seats that share a similar profile to Werribee, such as Hawke, Bruce and Holt.

Fuelling tensions between federal and state Labor in Victoria has been a standoff over funding for the $35bn first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop, which the Albanese government has only committed about $2bn towards.

The Allan government has unsuccessfully lobbied the Albanese government to throw billions more at the proposal, but instead of doing that Mr Albanese last month announced another $2bn in funding for the Allan government’s less-favoured airport rail link.

Labor federal MP Tim Watts with Anthony Albanese. Picture: AAP

Labor’s federal-state tensions erupted last month when Labor’s federal MP for Gellibrand, Tim Watts, went public in his opposition to an Allan government level crossing proposal that has sparked strong opposition among locals in the western suburbs.

In an open letter, Mr Watts called on the Allan government to “pause” the controversial level crossing removal at Champion Road and urged state colleagues to consult the community.

“During this time I’ve listened to our community’s concerns about the project and reflected them in my discussions with the state government,” he stated in an open letter.

“I have reached the view that the Champion Road level crossing removal should not proceed in its current form … given this, I wrote to the Premier and Minister for Transport Infrastructure some time ago asking them to pause the project.”

Mr Watts, whose electorate borders the state electorate of Werribee, said the Allan government needed to conduct “further community consultations” and called on it to release a traffic study of the impact of the project on a local road: “Given the significant costs of this project as currently designed, and the absence of any offsetting benefits for commuters, I support our community’s call to pause the project until these issues can be addressed.”