EDITORIAL: Danger for Anthony Albanese in believing his own PR

Two days clear of election night and the reasons for Labor’s stonking win — and the Liberals corresponding implosion — have already been well-picked over.

Donald Trump. Australians’ suspicion of nuclear power. Policy laziness and haziness from the Coalition. An opposition leader voters never warmed to. An assertive campaign from a match-fit and ruthless Labor machine unbound by a commitment to the truth.

In the rush to apportion blame and assign credit, the contribution of Anthony Albanese should not be overlooked.

The Prime Minister after all was one of the few who believed all along that Labor would defy the polls to form majority government.

He had long forecast a seat-count for his party in the 80s, a prediction which appeared somewhere between wildly optimistic and straight-up delusional throughout much of the campaign.

So is the Prime Minister some sort of political savant or soothsayer?

Some Labor members will think so. Given he has delivered them a win even the truest of true believers didn’t think was coming, it’s easy to see why.

In their eyes, this win — the first time a Prime Minister has served a full term and been returned for a second since the Howard years — will elevate Mr Albanese to the pantheon of Labor greats.

It’s a view the Prime Minister will quietly encourage, particularly among his large and ambitious caucus. There’s no better weapon against attacks on his authority than his own deification.

But there’s significant danger for the PM in believing his own PR.

Hubris has been the downfall of many leaders and it is a force always looking for its next victim.

Back at Parliament House on Monday, Mr Albanese sounded a warning to anyone who considers getting in the way of his agenda.

On his pledge to cut student debt by 20 per cent, he said Australians had given him a clear mandate.

“We can’t have been clearer. If the Senate gets in the way of that, then they’ll receive the same response the housing spokespeople for the Liberal Party and the Greens got on Saturday,” he said.

That is, fall in line or suffer the same fate as Liberal Michael Sukkar and Green Max Chandler-Mather, both of whom are today freshening up their CVs after losing their seats.

It would be a mistake for Mr Albanese to interpret his win as an complete endorsement by Australians of his Government to date. Labor’s primary vote, though improved on the previous election, was still low by historical standards. Australians didn’t much like what he was offering, it’s just that they liked what the other bloke had even less.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Albanese said he was “genuinely so optimistic” that better times were ahead for Australia, “if we get this decade right”.

We share in his optimism. Australia is a remarkable, resilient nation and the future is bright.

But we face the same problems today — compounding debt and deficit, a troubling cost-of-living crisis, a housing shortage — that we did last week, and it’s the same people charged with coming up with solutions.

Optimism can only get you so far — success depends on hard work.