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Being Prime Minister is about doing three things well all at once: managing the politics, developing good policies and showing national leadership.
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Being → publish → leadership
Anthony Albanese excels at one of these.
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Albanese → excel → these
Unfortunately for the rest of us, it's the one most useful for keeping him in the job, but the least useful for getting things done.
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things → keep → job
Albo defeated Scott Morrison in 2022, then secured a thumping majority at the next election in 2025.
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Albo → defeat → 2025
The fractured right wing has only strengthened his position.
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wing → strengthen → position
Despite his mid-term blues he'll probably do it again in 18 months' time.
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he → do → time
You can argue about the quality of his opponents, but winning is winning.
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winning → argue → opponents
Albo has earned his place in Labor's electoral history.
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Albo → earn → history
He's mastered the politics, and is within reach of Bob Hawke's record as Labor's longest serving PM.
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He → master → PM
The problem is what Albo does with his victories.
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Albo → do → victories
On policy, his government increasingly resembles a renovation where nobody checked the plans before knocking down the walls.
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nobody → resemble → walls
Case in point: the latest Budget, its broken promises on negative gearing and capital gains taxes and the subsequent ATO and credit card surcharges debacle that followed.
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that → follow → gearing
Winning an election by misleading voters, then doing what you reassured them you wouldn't do is hardly an achievement to gloat about.
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you → win → them
Albo's signature policy from his first term offers an even bigger moment of failure.
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policy → offer → failure
He made the Voice referendum the defining moral project of his prime ministership, then failed at the essential task of bringing Australians with him for the ride.
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referendum → make → ride
Albo pressed ahead without bipartisan agreement and never adequately resolved the public's questions about how it would all work.
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it → press → questions
The result was a crushing defeat at the referendum: more than 60 per cent of Australians voted No, with the referendum defeated in every single state.
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referendum → vote → state
Two moments of national horror have exposed the limitations that electoral success often conceals when a leader isn't up to the task.
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leader → expose → task
After the Bondi terror attack, Australians needed empathy, moral clarity and a willingness to accept responsibility.
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Australians → need → responsibility
It was NSW Premier Chris Minns who supplied all of that in spades.
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who → supply → spades
Albo did not.
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Albo → do → ?
Helen Haines had taken aim at Albanese for his government's $6million grant for Marrickville Golf Club.
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Haines → take → Club
Above, the Prime Minister is seen at Lewis the cavoodle's birthday party.
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Minister → see → party
Lewis is on right, Albanese's dog Toto is on the left
Minns acknowledged that his government should have done more.
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government → acknowledge → more
He stood before a grieving community and accepted responsibility for failing to protect it.
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He → stand → it
He supported a royal commission while Albo resisted a national inquiry until he was eventually forced to relent.
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he → support → inquiry
The contrast between the pair was devastating precisely because both men wore Labor colours.
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men → wear → colours
Minns understood that admitting failure could establish the trust needed to lead going forward.
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admitting → understand → trust
Albo seemed more preoccupied with how much failure he might be required to admit to.
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he → seem → failure
Now we have the appalling attack on Helen Haines, the much loved independent MP.
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we → have → Haines
The PM has rightly praised Haines' character and public service.
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PM → praise → character
Yet his response has been compromised by his refusal to properly address the dirt sheet that we revealed his own office circulated about her, just weeks earlier.
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office → compromise → her
The document used her funding requests and personal connections to insinuate wrongdoing without a shred of evidence.
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document → use → evidence
It emerged after she criticised the $6 million grant for the Prime Minister's local golf club.
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she → emerge → club
Asked whether he knew about or approved of its distribution, Albo instead explained that Haines was a good local member who advocated strongly for her community.
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who → ask → community
So why was his office briefing against her for doing it?
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office → brief → it
He won't explain that contradiction.
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He → explain → contradiction
Perhaps because the PM, or someone very senior within his camp, directed the dirt unit to dig in the first place.
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PM → direct → unit
Then, Albo told the ABC that his office was simply sharing 'a list of funding from Helen Haines, just showing that people of integrity stand up for their electorate.
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people → tell → electorate
She's advocated for funding for projects in her electorate,' he said.
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he → advocate → electorate
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
