CAMERON MILNER: Anthony Albanese has finally remembered his Labor values in the midst of energy crisis

In the midst of a shocking energy crisis, Anthony Albanese looks finally to want to be a Labor leader.

While his three-minute national address was rightly panned by voters, his National Press Club speech and answers the next day was full of content.

Albanese finally had the confidence to back in his Treasurer’s ambitious tax reform plans and those originally called for by his predecessor as Labor leader, Bill Shorten.

His Press Club speech saw none of the caveated, half-arsed, mealy mouthed support he usually gives those who actually want to act like Labor ministers.

It was full-throated support for capital gains tax and negative gearing overhauls.

That this comes in the midst of the nation running out of fuel and One Nation running strongly in national polls shows true courage.

Perhaps it’s the “never waste a crisis” mindset, or the realisation that four years after being elected, the Albanese Government hasn’t done much of anything that resembles a Labor government.

Regardless of the motivation, Albanese should be congratulated for finding policy courage in the middle of this Cost-of-Living Crisis 2.0.

The May Budget had already been staked out by Jim Chalmers as a reformist moment in the mould of Paul Keating or Jim Cairns.

But having dudded his Treasurer on previous tax reforms by baulking at the last moment and chopping him off at the knees through well-timed media leaks, many of us were concerned Albanese would just do it again.

Instead, Albanese used his Treasurer’s language on intergenerational equity and system overhaul. Albanese should also be commended for setting aside his petty rivalry with Labor’s greatest reformer never to serve as prime minister, Bill Shorten.

Albanese went further and said this Budget would be the most important of his second term. Arguably it’s the most significant of his entire time in office.

The May Budget will be delivered at the time when fuel rationing will almost certainly be in place along, causing massive economic disruptions in all sectors.

This takes courage and for that, Albanese must be commended. More broadly it’s a win for all the other Labor ministers who want to serve in a Labor government.

But Albanese having a taste for a legacy beyond simply time served shouldn’t stop here.

There is so much more to be done.

The NDIS is a runaway gravy train of corporate profiteers and outright rorters ripping off participants while parents with a cantankerous child want their kid assessed for an NDIS package.

People who genuinely need help are being swamped by those chasing easy government money.

The NDIS should be nationalised like our public hospital system, run by public servants like Medicare is and government-employed health care workers.

We should admit the hybrid housing plan to have the public sector deliver new housing is missing the mark and not value for money.

If Albanese can grow up in housing commission and make it to PM then we shouldn’t have a problem with Federal and State governments delivering and owning public housing apartment buildings and estates.

Lastly Labor should deliver a truly Labor reform package where we move from taxing wealth rather than income.

If we want true intergenerational Labor reform, we need to see that wealth and wealth transfer is the true enemy of social equity.

Labor should embrace aspiration and allow those with working class backgrounds not be taxed back to the Stone Age just for earning a decent wage.

Working people are taxed too much in Australia because successive governments have let the wealthy get more wealthy.

Labor should start with family trust reform and make this the centrepiece of its next Budget.

Tax shelters for the wealthy must be torn down and government services funded equitably.

Labor’s voters — care sector workers and public sector workers — could then enjoy significant income tax cuts and allow them access to homeownership and a better quality of life.

It would also be outrageously popular for younger people who weren’t trust fund babies.

Albanese though should be given full credit for finally doing a Shorten and championing true Labor values of social equity and grabbing the tax reform nettle with both hands.

Critics will ask why it took him so long, but in fairness any Labor reform, however delayed, should be welcomed by Labor Party members and voters.

This should be the start of new era of Labor reform.

Albanese might have said nothing in his three-minute national address, but he now has the chance to grab the national conversation and be remembered as a reformer.

Cameron Milner is a former Queensland Labor State secretary