Happy Christmas, Albo?

Halfway into its first term, the big question is whether the Albanese government is in a temporary bad patch, or at the beginning of a downhill slide.

One nation

Anthony Albanese will be taking nothing for granted in his relations with Labor state and territory governments and the premiers and chief ministers will know better than to expect too many free kicks.

Hard choices lie ahead

Labor faces an interconnected international polycrisis, encompassing Russia’s war in Europe, an aggressive China, climate change and the environment, energy, the continuing pandemic, a deepening geopolitical divide and dysfunctional global institutions with rising inflation, declining real wages and stagnant productivity at home.

Blue skies and deep waters

The Prime Minister and his Treasurer have proved their ability to handle the public since taking office, but whether the Federal government will prove as adept at handling the looming policy challenges facing Australia is the big question for 2023.

Labor has its work cut out

Labor came to power with a minimal manifesto but action is required to handle the parlous economy and deteriorating international situation it has inherited.

Albanese needs to walk the talk on Labor’s integrity issue

The Labor leader has campaigned relentlessly against the government on a range of integrity issues and so to soft pedal on his party’s own ‘branch stacking’ scandal smacks of double standards and a failure of leadership.

What now for Federal Labor?

Anthony Albanese is more popular than some of his predecessors, but voters also don’t have a clear sense of who he is and what he offers.

Nuance and nostalgia

The internal report on Labor’s election debacle bemoans the party’s tendency to become the vehicle for various interests with diverse grievances at the expense of serving the needs of economically insecure working-class voters.

The death of a “grievance-based organisation”

Did Labor really lose the Federal election “because of a weak strategy that could not adapt to the change in Liberal leadership, a cluttered policy agenda that looked risky and an unpopular leader”.

What next for Labor?

Anthony Albanese will face some tricky choices given the need to redouble Labor’s appeal to middle class suburbia while keeping left wing and progressive activists on board.