EDITORIAL: Ill-discipline: A risk for all as Parliament returns

When Anthony Albanese takes his spot at the despatch box this new term of Parliament, he will see in front of him an unfamiliar sight: his own people, staring back at him.

So enormous is Labor’s majority that the party’s 94 members won’t be able to be contained on the government benches. They will spill over onto those usually reserved for opposition and crossbench MPs.

Gazing out across that sea of Labor faces will no doubt give the Prime Minister a confidence boost as he begins his second term in a position of strength. Without careful discipline, it will also invite hubris in a leader who has already shown he is susceptible to its pitfalls.

But for now at least, Mr Albanese has his feet planted firmly on the ground. He forwent the prime ministerial privilege of a Comcar on Monday, choosing instead to walk the couple of kilometres from the Lodge to Parliament House, son Nathan by his side.

Addressing his super-sized caucus, he urged new and returning members to stay focused on the real world, and not get too caught up in the goings-on within Parliament House’s walls.

“If we maintain that sense of discipline, sense of purpose, clear idea about why we are here to represent people in our electorate but also represent the national interest in promoting the Labor values of fairness, of aspiration and opportunity for all, there is no reason why every single one of you can’t just be returned to the next parliament and can’t be added to as well,” he said.

Maintaining tight discipline will be key to preventing Labor’s large Lower House majority from morphing from advantage to albatross.

That’s a problem Opposition Leader Sussan Ley could only dream of having.

Her task is an enormous one. The Coalition has been decimated. It nearly tore itself apart when the Nationals walked away from the partnership following the May 3 disaster.

Even so, those most dangerous to Ms Ley’s leadership are within her own Liberal Party.

She must find a way to marshal those disparate forces to pull in a singular direction — back towards being a relevant, mainstream party for the 21st century — or her leadership will be shortlived.

Polling released this week shows the scale of her challenge.

Primary vote support for the Coalition slipped to a dismal 29 per cent in Monday’s Newspoll, its worst showing since the poll’s 40-year history.

Clawing back ground, while resisting the forces which wish to drag the Coalition further away from its centrist base, will be an almighty struggle.

But it’s one the nation can’t afford for the Coalition to lose.

A functional opposition is a crucial check on government power; particularly in a Parliament as unbalanced as this one.

As Ms Ley rightly said on Monday, that doesn’t mean getting in the way of Labor’s mandate. Voters don’t want negativity and obstruction. She will need to pick her battles carefully.

And crucially, she will need to remind her side why they’re fighting in the first place: not for self-interest, but to earn back Australians’ trust.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.