The Albanese government will need to achieve in five weeks of campaigning what it hasn’t in three years in office, writes Chris Wallace.

The Albanese government has a fighting chance of winning the 2025 election, but will need to craft a compelling narrative that defines its vision and persuade Australians to back Labor for a second term.

Convincing voters that electing a Peter Dutton-led Coalition government would be risky is the other essential element for a Labor victory – a task made easier by the evident chaos arising from the Trump administration’s recent actions in the US.

The main Coalition promises announced ahead of the election being called were to start a nuclear power industry, slash the public service and, without explaining how, cut immigration.

These policies are sufficiently Trumpesque in tone to lend some credence to Labor insinuations that Dutton could be a mini-Trump if elected.

Attacks on Dutton’s integrity and policy credibility have improved Labor’s position in the run-up to the election.

With Prime Minister Anthony Albanese somewhat lifting his performance this year, and getting Dutton slightly off balance, the trend is perceived to be moving Labor’s way.

Government insiders hope the 2025 election will mimic the 1998 election, where the incumbent government survived despite losing the two party-preferred vote 48.5 per cent to the opposition’s 51.5 per cent.

This paradoxical outcome, which saw the Howard government survive, was because the swing to the Beazley Labor opposition was concentrated in seats the opposition already held, rather than those it........

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