The Guardian - After the trauma of defeat, it makes sense for Labor to play it safe. But why has it taken so long for Albanese to define himself?

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After the trauma of defeat, it makes sense for Labor to play it safe. But why has it taken so long for Albanese to define himself? | Katharine Murphy

Link [2022-03-12 15:57:27]

Labor’s current mindset is planning and hoping. But the party needs a gear change to convince voters their leader is the man for the moment

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Penny Wong won’t be fronting any of the election night television coverage this time around. Back in 2019, Labor’s Senate leader was on the ABC’s election night panel. As Labor lost the election it thought it would win, Wong had to sit, stoic, controlled, analysing the incoming shellacking for hours.

Never again, she says. In a conversation for my podcast this weekend, Wong recalls one of her more terrible nights. She says she knew by 7.30pm Labor was not returning to government, because the scrutineers in Queensland were telegraphing a blow out. “I remember calculating how many hours I’d have to be on television before Bill [Shorten] conceded,” she says.