The opportunity Labor has not had this century and won’t have again

Much has been said about Australia’s standing on the world stage recently. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, after all, walked a diplomatic tightrope with President Xi Jinping in China this week, while US President Donald Trump’s shadow loomed from across the ocean.

But next week, a new term of federal parliament begins, with fresh faces and, hopefully, fresh ideas tackling our domestic issues. Speaking with acting federal editor Nick Bonyhady in a new Inside Politics podcast episode, Nine’s chief political editor Charles Croucher delves into the rare opportunity that Labor hasn’t had since before Kevin Rudd’s first turn as leader.

Click the player below to listen to the full episode, or read on for an edited extract of the conversation.

Bonyhady: Albanese’s trip to China wrapped up on Thursday. He’s back in Australia today, Friday, and straight back into parliament next week. What does he face in that sitting period? The Coalition is trying to rebuild from an absolute walloping at the last election. Labor’s got a remarkably large agenda. Can we expect to see them be more optimistic in that first sitting week?

Croucher: Yeah, I would assume so. And I would assume there is a stability that this government has that no governments really had since probably John Howard.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, pictured in Shanghai this week, has a rare opportunity to achieve long-term goals.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Now, I was doing a talk with some Year 5 kids doing government studies the other day. And one of them asked, “What’s been the one bit of policy we’ve got right?” And I was trying to think of something good for them, and it was really hard. And I realised that for their whole life, they’ve had this instability, right?

We had Rudd, but Rudd came in with all this hope and promise, and then was hit with the [Global Financial Crisis]. And then Julia Gillard … always had to look over her shoulder at Kevin Rudd. And then in comes Tony Abbott, and again, he had Malcolm Turnbull, Malcolm Turnbull had Tony Abbott, then he goes, Scott Morrison comes in.

It was what the Betoota Advocate called the Nightwatchman, so he was just there for a short time. Then he wins the surprise election, all of a sudden, there’s a mandate, but there’s also COVID-19. And so that robs him of that opportunity. Anthony Albanese takes over, it’s a slim majority, he’s got inflation, he got hit with cost of living and the Voice.

And so now, for the first time in those kids’ lives, and for a lot of people, there is a stability that would allow a government to plan, maybe not three years in advance, but six years in advance, which is certainly the way they’re talking, and some of the departmental staff are talking as well.

So if Labor can’t take this opportunity, they’re never going to have an opportunity, and ever take one. This is the moment for them. And unlike almost all of his predecessors this century, Anthony Albanese isn’t looking over his shoulder at who’s plotting and who’s thinking about rolling him because they’ve all lived through the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years and how tough that’s been. He’s not worried about a byelection or a state election. There is a freedom there.

Now, whether they take advantage, we don’t know. But this is the opportunity for anyone to do that.

Elsewhere in the episode, Bonyhady and Croucher discussed Albanese’s trip to China, and CBD columnist Kishor Napier-Raman delved into the recent exodus of some of Labor’s key backroom operators. Listen to the full episode here.

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