Liverpool: So much for cultural cringe, the idea of Australians showing undue deference to the mother country. At the British Labour conference in Liverpool on Sunday, it was Anthony Albanese being held aloft as an exemplar: a Tory-slaying, centre-left leader from the Antipodes who managed to come from behind to achieve a resounding re-election victory.

Though he would never say so, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clearly invited Albanese to give a keynote speech at the conference in the hope some of the Albo glow would rub off on his embattled government. For Albanese, the inevitability that he would be attacked at home as self-indulgent, hubristic and overly partisan for appearing at such an event was a risk worth taking.

Anthony Albanese addresses the UK Labour Conference on Sunday night.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

As a smiling Albanese sat on the conference stage beside him, Starmer heaped praise upon his counterpart, introducing the guest of honour as a “true friend of Britain”. As Starmer hailed Albanese as “a real inspiration to those of us on the left, someone who is leading his country in the politics of renewal and, of course, winning a landslide victory earlier this summer”, the Labour loyalists in the audience burst into cheers.

They were delighted to be reminded that a progressive government can face struggles in its first term and still emerge victorious, as Albanese’s team did after the Voice referendum failure. When Albanese rose to speak, they gave him a standing ovation.........

© Brisbane Times