The times might be bad, but they have suited Anthony Albanese. The explosions on the political right since the 2025 election have, in electoral terms, resulted so far mainly in a rearrangement of debris between the Coalition and One Nation.

Support for the government had declined, but it has been insufficient to build a sense of crisis. The once hard man of the New South Wales socialist left, Albanese, now presents as a meek and mild figure in an international order driven by increasingly extravagant threats and the swift resort to deadly violence – on the part of certain of Australia’s allies, not only its enemies.

No serious pundit can imagine a change of government at the next federal election. Few can foresee one even at the election after that, even while they warn that there are traditional Labor voters turning to One Nation out of a sense that neither of the major parties is grappling with the issues that matter most to them.

Yet, for all of Labor’s electoral achievements, advantages and prospects, Albanese never seems to have broken through as a genuinely popular political leader. Famously, Bob Hawke’s approval rating weighed in at 78% in 1984.

Perhaps it doesn’t matter that Albanese is in no danger of getting within a cooee of these heights: after all, he is not deeply unpopular either. But it has been seen to matter that his Labor predecessor, Bill Shorten, was unable to break through as a personally popular leader ahead of the 2019 election he was widely expected to win.

Could things eventually turn sour for Labor on the back of Albanese’s mediocre approval ratings – especially if the Liberals were to find a leader with serious appeal?

It’s the economy … and some........

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