DJ Albo wants to be PM

He's played that funky music, been a political bridesmaid to numerous PMs and now Albo is standing on the threshold of The Lodge.

He's played that funky music, been a political bridesmaid to numerous PMs and now Albo is standing on the threshold of The Lodge.

“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride” is one way to sum up Anthony Albanese’s career.

Mr Albanese has been courting mainstream politics since 1996, when he was first elected as  Member for the inner city Sydney seat of Grayndler. He has changed a lot over the decades. You may or may not be familiar with the “hot Albo” meme which swept Australia when university-era pictures of Labor’s left-wing warrior emerged.  Those pics were hard to reconcile with mid-career Albo who alternated between being infrastructure minister and vying with Bill Shorten for leadership of the ALP. 

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese as a young man.

Now at 59, and with three years as Opposition Leader under his belt, he's asking you to make him prime minister in six weeks. He has dropped 18kg, got a haircut, some new specs and is now in the uncompromising glare of the political spotlight as he contests his first election as ALP leader. 

An exclusive Newspoll for The Australian shows Scott Morrison is ahead of Albo as preferred prime minister but Labor remains in pole position at the start of the campaign.

On Sunday, Scott Morrison called the election for May 21. And Mr Albanese put his hand up for the top job - choosing Sydney's Royal Easter Show, surrounded by puppies and ducklings, for his big pitch.  

He talked about being the child of a single mum who grew up in public housing. He talked about Medicare, aged care and the NBN. He said he had friends on all sides of politics and was comfortable “in the boardrooms and break rooms” of Australia.

”This is our time, our time to seize the opportunities that are before us, our time to create a better future,” Mr Albanese said.

However, he was somewhat  vague on his stance on a referendum on the Voice to Parliament for Indigenous people, in answers to questions about immigration and some other finer points. 

He talked about his time as deputy prime minister - even acting prime Minister. 

He sort-of ran the country and yet ...  we don't really know him. In a recent survey, more than half of  18-35 year-olds still have NFI what he is about.

FYI, Labor is going to combat this by making sure you see a lot of Mr Albanese and “Albo” on social media feeds.  Already seeing him? Relax. You haven't been repeatedly saying his name within an earshot of Siri. Targeted political advertising is a lot like Big Brother. If you are an undecided voter or have been flagged as a "soft Labor” voter by sophisticated party polling, you will be getting to know more of the Opposition Leader than anyone you are trawling on your Finsta.

You will absolutely hear that Mr Albanese was brought up by a single mother in working class Sydney and imbued with three verities - the Catholic Church, the Rabbitohs rugby league club and the Labor Party.

He’s remained true to the latter two. 

He was the first person in his family to finish high school and went on to study an economics degree at the revered Sydney University, where he also nerded out and got a taste for politics. The left side of politics. After graduating he joined the union movement. Until earlier this year he was a long-term advocate of the “tax the rich” economic policy. Despite leading the charge in 2019  for tax reform, he has since ruled out hiking the taxes of the highest income earners. 

Iin the late 1990s he campaigned to have same-sex couples granted the same superannuation benefits as heterosexual couples. His bill was defeated three times until 2007.

When the Kevin '07 bus fired up the country and rolled long-serving Liberal prime minister John Howard, Albo was riding shotgun. Throughout the turbulent tenures of Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Rudd again, he was infrastructure and transport minister, regional development and local government minister, deputy prime minister and acting prime minister for about two days.

He is the Dwight Schrute of Australian politics and has had real “assistant to the general manager vibes instead of assistant general manager charisma.

While Scott Morrison cultivates an image of the “daggy dad”, Mr Albanese created “Albo".

Albo was THE man of Marrickville, in Sydney's trendy, grungy inner west. In his downtime he billed himself as a burgeoning DJ. Because of this side hustle, we learnt he was a hardcore Big Day Out devotee and loved live gigs as much as the live theatre of parliament's question time. He even co-hosted a special political episode of Rage on the ABC on the eve of the 2013 election.

He had a beer named after him, too. A micro brewery in his electorate created The Albo, a pale ale he described once as “a full strength beer ... Just like the Labor Party, once you buy it, you are glad that you have”. Those tasting notes would make more sense after consuming a six-pack. Not that he’s been doing much hops quaffing of late. He is off the carbs  to shape up for the campaign. This  new look debuted with a spread in The Australian Women's Weekly earlier this year.

 

As well as showing off his new svelte physique, sharper threads, capped teeth and fashion forward specs, he also introduced his new partner, Jodie Haydon, to the world/mums of Australia. 

Ms Haydon  accompanied him on Sunday to cuddle the ducklings and puppies while Mr Morrison called the election in Canberra.

“It was fantastic to talk with people and I've got to say, just like the reception I've had, right around the country, it was very positive,” Mr Albanese said.

“And they were very cute pups. The only danger was either Jodie or myself running off with one of those beautiful little pups. But when I did get home my dog Toto was very upset because she could smell that I’d been cheating with those little puppies.”

Mr Albanese’s  40-minute back and forth with the press ended with the Albo of yore coming to the fore, dropping mic with: “In the words of the great Ramones, Hey, ho let's go.”

Nirvana is one of his favourite bands. A cautionary tale of good things ending too soon or underground cult genius? All will be revealed over the next six weeks.