EDITORIAL: Digging in won’t work for Albanese in the new year

At the beginning of December, Anthony Albanese was riding high.

It had been a triumphant year for the Prime Minister. Not only had he led his party to a convincing election win in May, he had seen off two of his political enemies in Liberal leader Peter Dutton and Greens leader Adam Bandt, both of whom lost their seats in that landslide.

Even before that election, he had begun thinking of a third term. As 2025 drew to a close, it seemed almost a forgone conclusion that he would get one. That’s not to say Australians were enamoured of Mr Albanese as their Prime Minister, but they were certain he was a better pick than the other mob, who seemed intent on tearing to shreds what little remained of themselves.

There had been irritations along the way: inflation was rumbling back into life, productivity continued to stagnate and revelations of extravagant spending on travel by ministers had drawn the ire of an electorate still suffering under a cost-of-living crisis.

But, the Prime Minister would have felt justified in believing that his tried and tested tactic of digging in and riding out the storm would work again, as it had many times before.

There was success on the personal front too; Mr Albanese had just married partner Jodie Haydon at a ceremony at the Lodge, and would have expected the public goodwill generated from those nuptials to carry him into the new year.

And then, in six minutes on a sleepy Sunday afternoon with just a fortnight left in the year, everything changed.

At the end of those six minutes, 15 innocent people were dead or dying and a stain left on Australia’s soul.

The Bondi massacre came as a deep shock to Australians, most of whom believed that atrocities of that nature simply wouldn’t — couldn’t — happen here. Religiously-motivated mass shootings were a thing that happened in other countries. Not ours.

We know now how naive that belief was.

Paradoxically, crises are often good for leaders personally. It gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their humanity, empathy and strength to an audience which is paying close attention.

NSW Premier Chris Minns is an example of a leader who rose to the challenge. Mr Minns instinctively knew the right balance to strike. He readily and repeatedly took responsibility for his Government’s failings which contributed to the spread of anti-Semitism. He dealt with victims and Jewish community leaders with compassion and respect and was in return invited into their grief.

The contrast with Mr Albanese was stark. Where Mr Minns showed humility, Mr Albanese showed defensiveness. When the inevitable calls for a royal commission into the atrocity came, the Prime Minister said no, knowing that the scrutiny of his Government’s failings would be politically disastrous. He believed he could ride the storm out, again.

But the slaying of 15 people in what is alleged to have been Australia’s worst terror attack isn’t comparable to a profligate minister.

The Jewish community is filled with sorrow and with rage. They won’t let this issue fade from public view.

In 2026, the Prime Minister needs to drop the deflection and get a new tactic.

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