Andrews outshines Albo in ultra-marginal Chisholm

The Liberal Party is trying to paint federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese as “Daniel Andrews’ puppet”. The pandemic, the Liberals’ theory goes, has left the Victorian premier’s brand so toxic that it will harm Labor’s chances federally.

This had led to the belief Albanese would not be seen with Andrews during the federal election campaign. On Tuesday morning in the ultra-marginal Melbourne seat of Chisholm, though, the belief was laid to rest.

Albanese went to Box Hill and stood side by side with Andrews while pledging $2.2 billion in federal funding for the premier’s favourite infrastructure project, the Suburban Rail Loop. The planned train line will run through Chisholm and its busiest suburb, Box Hill.

The problem for Albanese was not that Andrews was pulling his strings, but that the premier stole the show. He outshone his federal counterpart as a political communicator.

Where Albanese was loquacious, Andrews was vicious. Where the federal Labor leader wound his way through answers, the state premier cut through. The contrast did not flatter Albanese.

According to Andrews, the federal government is the “miserable Morrison government”, and Victoria received so little federal funding it was as if “we ought to bow our head and treat it like it’s foreign aid”.

Hardhat bromance: Daniel Andrews (left) and Anthony Albanese at a level-crossing removal project in suburban Surrey Hills on Tuesday morning.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I’ve had a conversation with the prime minister about the Suburban Rail Loop, and zero dollars. Zero dollars,” Andrews insisted. “The contrast could not be clearer. Anthony Albanese is about building things.”

The Coalition, he continued, were “desperate people who have built nothing and done nothing – [they’ve] got an excuse for everything and a plan for nothing – this is the sort of stuff that comes out of prime ministers who have just run out of time.”

Warming to his theme, he reminded Victorians of the attitude of Morrison and his treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, during Victoria’s worst days of the pandemic, when, according to Andrews, senior Liberals “proved to be Liberals first and Victorians second”.

The contrast between the two did not flatter Albanese.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“They thought they were bagging our government, but they were bagging every Victorian who was following the rules and doing the right thing. And that might be one of the reasons why they’re in a bit of trouble in their seats.”

Albanese was, by contrast, discursive. “Nation-building infrastructure can change the country. It builds productivity, it builds efficiency, it grows the economy,” he said, by making it possible to catch a train around middle Melbourne rather than having to go into the CBD before travelling back out.

“If you think about the great cities of the world – London, Paris, New York – you don’t have to go into the centre to get around those cities. What the Suburban Rail Loop does is improve the efficiency of the entire rail network.”

His points were valid, but they also skipped over the fact the loop is the most expensive transport project in Victorian history and was announced by Andrews in 2018 without analysis by Infrastructure Australia. As federal minister, Albanese created that body in 2008 to improve our cities by better assessing huge projects like this one.

Albanese addresses the media in Box Hill.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

But the Suburban Rail Loop has proved electorally popular, and Andrews has become accustomed to dead-batting accusations it does not stack up. “We’ve had an audit – it’s called an election,” he said on Tuesday, using a line he has employed before.

Albanese did, however, take the opportunity to hit another mark.

Before the media conference began, he and Andrews walked through the site of a level-crossing removal project in Surrey Hills. He pointed out that this was where one of the four commuter car parks promised in Frydenberg’s electorate had been going to go, but that project has since been cancelled.

In March, fearing an electoral backlash as he fights to keep his seat of Kooyong, Frydenberg ditched a $65 million pledge for “thousands of extra car parks”, promised in the run-up to the 2019 election.

“At least there is a train station there,” Albanese said, “because in some of the projects that were announced, there’s not a train station for a commuter car park. It makes no sense. But it stands in stark, stark contrast to Labor, [which] will always support nation-building projects.”

Cut through the noise of the federal election campaign with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletter here.