Federal election 2025: Despite solid first week, Anthony Albanese will have to get real on the big issues

The sight of 500 adorable primary age children screaming your name and jumping in excitement when you walk through the gates of their school would brighten anyone’s day.

And the Prime Minister likely needed the lift from the raucous welcome at Sydney’s Cabramatta school on Friday morning after a tough previous day on the hustings that began with a brutal wake-up call on US tariffs and ended with a public stumble from a stage.

Thursday’s bump in the road followed a strong, slick start to Anthony Albanese’s re-election bid where he has whisked on his VIP jet from Brisbane to Perth to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, confident he has a persuasive story to tell.

But his polished message so far has largely promoted Labor’s pledges on healthcare, and Mr Albanese must soon move out of his comfort zone if he wants to win over floating voters to avoid the hung parliament or minority government that may still be on the cards.

The housing crisis, energy policy and small business concerns loom large as voter priorities, yet only made a fleeting appearance in the first week on the trail.

The Prime Minister began his campaign with a brassy move on Saturday, taking the fight directly to Coalition Leader Peter Dutton’s marginal constituency of Dickson to dart into an urgent care centre to wave the Medicare card that Labor says the Opposition want to undermine.

On the way, Mr Albanese revealed his genuine love for campaigning, popping unannounced into a local gym to surprise early morning fitness fanatics and kiss his first baby.

It was a rare spontaneous moment in a highly choreographed operation.

There are obvious security concerns that curb the political leaders’ ability for unhindered interactions with the public – not least after a series of protesting gatecrashers interrupted events this week, with one coming alarmingly close to Mr Dutton.

But the stage-managed “campaign bus” where dozens of journalists chase the PM’s entourage on a closely guarded schedule is a contained bubble where it’s hard to gauge what voters are really thinking.

Mr Albanese’s few unvetted appearances in clinic waiting rooms and Nathaniel’s Coffee and Panini café in Adelaide’s St Peter’s were warmly received.

Customers said he was “personable and engaging”. A young girl at Cabramatta said he was “kind.”

But with an alert security detail quick to hustle protesters from the scene and a breakneck program where every minute is accounted for it’s a challenge to connect with people’s true needs.

Mr Dutton was slower off the starting block but is now finding his stride, tackling a wider range of issues, from energy and housing to business and defence, in the first days of the five-week campaign.

Voters will judge whether it is acceptable he has not yet revealed full costings on his economic policy or for his centrepiece initiative to free up gas reserves for cheaper bills, but Labor can’t afford to be complacent.

The Prime Minister has a three-year government policy record to lean on but has also punted thorny issues to a later date.

After announcing an unexpected “critical minerals reserve” in response to the imposition of US tariffs on Thursday – blindsiding industry leaders – Mr Albanese said more details would be provided “down the track.”

At a Sydney conference on Friday, Mr Dutton seized the initiative on unaffordable housing, pledging to stem the flow of migration, limit foreign ownership, and cap international students as the key to allowing more Australians to purchase their first home.

The Prime Minister’s team must face the housing crisis head on rather than playing mainly to his strengths.

Australia’s plummeting birthrates are a sign of the younger generation’s anxiety about the future.

But when asked by The Nightly outside Melbourne’s Goodstart Early Centre for the solution, the Prime Minister reverted to a slogan.

“The three Ps of economic growth - productivity, participation and population … we have been aiming at all three,” he said.

The Government needs to offer Australians a more inspiring longer-term vision to cut through to record levels of soft voters.

Mr Albanese’s election may have begun well, but it has the feel of a local campaign, and it’s time to pick up momentum.