source : the age
Many analogies have been uttered and written to describe Labor’s comprehensive election win. And although comparing blood sports with politics is something of a cliche, we would like to evoke a boxing analogy from 50 years ago.
In 1975, George Foreman was fuming from his loss the previous year to Muhammad Ali in what was known as the “Rumble in the Jungle” world heavyweight title defence fight in Zaire. Foreman, either as a gimmick or an exercise in restoring self-belief, arranged to fight five boxers in the one night, one after the other. He despatched all of them.
Anthony Albanese knocked out many contenders on Saturday, but his biggest bout is yet to come.Credit: Aresna Villanueva
Come May 2025, and enter the election ring a second time, one Anthony Albanese. The prime minister has floored not just one political opponent but several who appeared from the left and the right. At the time of writing, Labor has 86 seats in the House of Representatives, the Liberal Party 39, independents 8, the Greens 1 and others 2, as counting continues in some seats.
Albanese’s most powerful knockout has been that delivered to Peter Dutton. The former opposition leader lost his seat of Dickson to the ALP. Some of his most senior lieutenants will follow him out the door, including influential Victorian Liberal Michael Sukkar. Catastrophe is too mild a term for what has engulfed the Liberal Party. Their footprint in the cities has virtually disappeared. The party has fallen, or perhaps sleepwalked, into an abyss, given the dismal nature of their campaign.
Knockout punches were also landed against opponents in other parties. The Greens have lost seats, including that of prime ministerial antagonist Max Chandler-Mather in Griffith. Melbourne, held by Greens leader Adam Bandt, is too close to call, but if he manages to hang on, the swing against the minor party leader in his previously safe inner-city seat is certainly a victory the PM and Labor will celebrate. Albanese also knocked out Clive Palmer’s eye-wateringly expensive foray into the campaign.
Dutton, Sukkar, Chandler-Mather, Bandt, Palmer. All five in one night.
Albanese’s Foreman-like demolition of his opponents is such that he has been elevated to the pantheon of Labor heroes, alongside Bob Hawke, Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating. He is the first prime minister since 2004 to serve the full term and be re-elected. If he serves a full second-term, he will become Labor’s second-longest serving PM after Hawke.
Albanese delivers his victory speech.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
In his victory speech, Albanese declared: “We have everything we need to seize this moment, and make it our own, but we must do it together, all of us, because for Australia to realise our full potential, for our nation to be the very best, every Australian must have the opportunity to be the best, to serve our Australian values, to be their best. We must value every Australian, and Labor will govern for every Australian.”
Now, comes the work. As the prime minister has said, voters have delivered to him and the party a strong mandate. On Friday, Labor caucus members will meet at Parliament House to decide a new ministry. After an election campaign from both major parties that threw out the big picture for the small target, Labor now simply must draw a vision on the canvas and then act upon it.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday that the government’s priority this term would be “productivity without forgetting inflation”. The second-term would be about housing, energy transformation, and better living standards. Labor has announced changes in childcare, TAFE and HECS, but the challenge now is to set in place the foundations for the next generation and beyond, not just the next news cycle or election cycle. A starting point is a comprehensive review of the tax system to a fair and equitable financial environment for all Australians.
This is not for the faint-hearted, and he should not be swayed by self-interested sections of society. In keeping with his persona, Albanese sees himself not as a revolutionary but as a reformer. It’s one thing to be the leader of a winning team, to knock out your rivals, it’s another thing altogether to show, through your agenda, a leadership that will carry this country into the future.
Years after the “Foreman vs Five” fight, the ageing boxer came out of retirement and, at 45, became the oldest fighter to win the heavyweight championship. This was the victory he will be remembered for.
Defeating five opponents in one night makes for an impressive spectacle, but if Albanese and his team want the status of Labor champions they will need to show Australians they are capable of ambitious and long-lasting reform in the years to come.
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