EDITORIAL: Anthony Albanese must focus on regaining middle ground

News that the Coalition has seized the lead from the Government in the polls for the first time this term has understandably caused considerable angst among the Labor ranks.

After all, Peter Dutton was supposed to be “unelectable”. How could they be running second-best to that bloke?

But taking more of a glass-half-full perspective, there’s plenty for Labor to take heart from.

It’s remarkable that it’s taken this long — with just six months left in the term, give or take — for the polls to reach this point. Particularly when taking into account considerable pressures, including unexpectedly persistent inflation contributing to an unrelenting squeeze on households and conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, which have taken up a lot of space in the media and in voters’ minds, making it more difficult for the Government to enunciate its achievements or outline its second half agenda.

Plus, it’s not unusual for incumbent governments to find themselves behind at this point in the electoral cycle. That doesn’t mean voters won’t give them a second term.

However, there’s no doubt that this is a Government that has failed to find its feet. The loss of the Voice referendum one year ago was clearly a deeply rattling experience for Labor. It sucked the zest out of the Government, leaving voters — and MPs — unsure of what it stands for.

Anthony Albanese’s great challenge now is to turn that around.

Although the Coalition may have drawn just ahead on a two-party preferred basis, few are predicting anything other than a second term for the Albanese Government.

That should give Mr Albanese the confidence to govern.

The Prime Minister needs to regain the middle ground.

Fringe groups and peripheral concerns of both the left and right have been taking up too much space in the national conversation.

And that, along with the fragmentation of the electorate it causes, opens Australia up to the threat of a minority government.

If that happens, the future of the nation will be held to ransom by a handful of rabble-rousing extremists. Expect more division, more morally dubious legislative horsetrading and a lot less actual governance.

Mr Albanese’s greatest challenge in the final few months of this first term is to find cut through with voters.

He needs to seize back the mainstream.

That means he must devise a narrative that will give confidence to electors that he remains the right person to be Prime Minister, even after a tumultuous first term.

That may mean jettisoning some questionable policies to assert himself as a leader.

Primarily it means he must get his Government back thinking about the concerns of mainstream Australia. Elections are won from the centre, not the fringes.

In uncertain times, Australia needs strong leadership. If Mr Albanese wishes to remain Prime Minister, he needs to provide it.