Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the first 100 days of Anthony Albanese’s second term – that grand-sounding milestone which arrives on Monday – is how similar it feels to the same period in his first term.

In part, that is no accident. In July, Albanese told The Australian Financial Review that this would be a “year of delivery” on Labor’s pledges. He repeated the phrase not long afterwards to Labor caucus – then again last week in a press conference. This was similar to what he had told the same masthead at the conclusion of his first year in government: that Labor had demonstrated a determination “to deliver on its promises”.

How will his government measure up, second time around? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Unsurprisingly, then, this is what dominated the first sitting of parliament this term. Policies it had pledged before the election were introduced: to protect penalty rates, make prescription medicines cheaper and cut student debt. And this legislative busy-ness, too, carried echoes of the government’s beginnings: near the end of its first year in power it had to set aside funds to employ more people to draft laws.

In part, though, the similarity is coincidence, the result of events over which Albanese has little control. It is largely forgotten now, but the earliest part of Albanese’s prime ministership was marked by a focus on foreign affairs. Mountains were........

© Brisbane Times