Albo's radar
Anthony Albanese backflipped this morning on the decision to exclude gender and sexuality questions from the census — a story which had already reignited scrutiny of his political instincts ahead of the election.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is often compared to his friend, former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.
Both come from the ALP’s Left faction and rose through the administrative wings of their state branches — Albanese was assistant secretary of the NSW branch, while Andrews held the same position in Victoria. They even shared a flat in Queanbeyan shortly after Albanese was elected, when Andrews was working as a staffer in Canberra.
But Albanese’s governing style couldn’t be more different to Andrews’. While Albanese leans on his cabinet colleagues, emphasising a “traditional cabinet government”, Andrews was often accused of running a one-man show. Albanese trumpets the importance of following the advice of departments and agencies, whereas Andrews usually backed his own judgement over that of senior bureaucrats. And while Albanese aims for practical results — evident in his decision to pursue a constitutionally enshrined Voice over mere constitutional recognition — Andrews regularly favoured symbolic gestures, such as apologising for past wrongs or making candid comments about George Pell.
The comparison between Albanese and Andrews helps explain the very different results in their respective first terms. While Andrews lost scores of ministers to scandal and internal squabbling, he successfully projected himself to Victorians as a decisive premier who got things done and said what he thought. On the other hand, Albanese has run a largely scandal-free government with no forced departures, but a regular complaint from focus groups is that he lacks decisiveness.
