Extract from ABC News
Analysis
At the end of last year, Labor strategists knew their task for summer was to give voters a better understanding of Anthony Albanese.
To fill in the blanks for those who have paid little attention to the federal opposition leader during the pandemic, but can name every state premier.
Then came Omicron, spiralling case numbers, snaking queues for PCR tests, an unfathomable lack of rapid antigen tests, workforce shortages, empty supermarket shelves and a bizarre hokey pokey over Novak Djokovic's visa.
It was an irresistible smorgasbord of opportunity for an opposition leader. Albanese didn't exactly ditch his get-to-know-me plans — he still toured marginal seats with a grab bag of targeted promises — but his overwhelming focus remained on the government's pandemic failures. He hammered them every day. Fair enough. COVID-19 is all anyone has been talking about.
Albanese's colleagues agree it was a no-brainer to keep the heat on Scott Morrison and two opinion polls — Resolve and Essential — have confirmed the discontent of voters this summer. The Coalition and Scott Morrison have been marked down.
With less than four months to go before an election, the government's troubles have deepened.
The man who would be PM
Both polls show Labor gaining some ground as a result, but there's been little movement for Anthony Albanese.
More than 20 per cent of those surveyed still don't know whether they approve or disapprove of the Labor leader.
They are undecided about the man who would be prime minister.
Does it matter? Perhaps not. Tony Abbott famously won the 2013 election with a net-negative approval rating.
Even if voters remain unsure about Albanese, they could still hand him the top job if they're angry enough to turf out the current mob.
Albanese, however, isn't relying on the Abbott precedent to get him over the line. He knows he still needs to win the trust of undecided voters.
And this week the Labor leader had another go at answering the "who am I?" question, delivering a polished speech to the National Press Club.
In contrast to the Prime Minister's talk of "getting government out of our lives", Albanese pledged to make government the "steering wheel of the nation".
It's a fundamental difference.
While Morrison believes voters are sick of government rules and restrictions after two years of COVID-19, Albanese believes the lesson of the pandemic is that we need a greater role for government.
He found it remarkable that Scott Morrison was unconcerned about his legacy — the PM recently gave a profile interview to the Nine newspapers, in which he suggested dwelling on legacies can be "very vain".
The Opposition Leader wants his legacy to include rising living standards, secure jobs and a stronger Medicare.
In particular, the Opposition Leader used his speech to passionately defend Medicare: it's "part of who we are".
He rightly highlighted the extraordinary load being carried by "overworked" and "exhausted" health workers.
But, beyond a broad commitment to make free rapid antigen tests (RATs) more widely available, we're yet to see whether Labor would seriously boost Medicare funding to ease the burden on an over-stretched workforce.
Do Albanese's policies match the rhetoric?
Likewise, Albanese empathised with parents worried about the impact of lockdowns on children and unveiled what he called "Labor's plan to help our schools and students bounce back".
It amounted to a modest, $440 million allocation to help the states with work they're already doing to improve classroom ventilation and give students mental health support.
Promising more free RATs and some extra cash for classroom air purifiers is undoubtedly smart politics. These are low-cost, low-risk, quick-fix promises to the immediate tangible concerns of families.
It's also more than the government is offering and perhaps that's all Labor needs to do.
But it's a long way short of restoring the $14 billion Labor says the Coalition has cut from public school funding, which former Labor leader Bill Shorten promised to do at the last election. Nor is it investing the sort of money needed to boost the size of the health workforce in any meaningful way.
The policies on offer, so far, don't exactly match Labor's rhetoric about what's needed in health and education. They don't suggest an Albanese government would be steering the nation in a radically different direction.
And don't hold your breath for major pledges on health and education between now and May either.
Labor simply can't afford it after ditching the revenue-raisers it took to the last election.
Nor does the opposition want to give a government that has already run up record levels of debt any excuse to accuse it of reckless spending.
Anger and an alternative
That's not to say this will be an election with no choice on offer. It's unfair to continue suggesting Labor has no policies.
Albanese's climate plan represents a serious piece of work that's received widespread support from business and industry groups.
Labor would also seek to enshrine a First Nation's Voice to Parliament in the Constitution and establish an anti-corruption watchdog.
But on tax, spending, asylum seekers and relations with China, Albanese has sought to narrow and even eliminate differences.
It may not be enough to grab the attention of undecided voters in the middle and give them a detailed understanding of Anthony Albanese's plans for the prime ministership. That's not his priority.
The Labor plan is to sustain the anger towards Morrison while promising a more-competent alternative.
David Speers is the host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on iview.
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