Is there a problem between Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers? It sure looked like it this week.

After two years of insisting he would not alter his proposed superannuation tax changes, the treasurer was grim-faced and circumspect as he announced six major changes (mere tweaks, Chalmers claimed) to the policy, largely addressing critics’ grievances.

Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have different ideas about tax reform.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

If there is a problem between the two men, that is a big concern – because the prime minister-treasurer relationship helps define governments. Peter Costello and John Howard were not personally close but worked well together; Paul Keating and Bob Hawke were a powerhouse team early on until they fell out over the leadership; Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison were close, but critics argued that treasurer was too close to his prime minister.

After nearly four years in government, the Albanese-Chalmers dynamic remains opaque, although both insist their working relationship is strong.

While I was preparing a profile of Chalmers nearly two years ago, the treasurer told me that sometimes he spoke to Albanese six or seven times in a day, but then he may go two or three days without much more than a few text messages. To illustrate his point that they got along well, Chalmers mentioned that Albanese and fiancee Jodie Haydon had called him just a couple of days earlier when the pair got stuck on a clue in a newspaper crossword.

Albanese and Chalmers have regular dinners together at the Lodge (unlike Howard and Costello), share the same birthday (March 2), grew up in households that........

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