The perception that the Albanese government is governing from the political centre – and at times shading toward conservative comfort zones – has become a recurring theme in Australian political commentary. Whether that perception is fair is almost secondary. What matters is that many progressive voters believe it to be true.
Governments, of course, do not win elections by preaching solely to their base. Australia’s marginal seat arithmetic rewards parties that reassure undecided and moderate voters. The instinct to neutralise fear campaigns and present as economically responsible and strategically sober is not new. It was part of the formula under Kevin Rudd. It was mastered, from the opposite side of politics, by John Howard. And it is clearly embedded in the governing style of Anthony Albanese.
The logic is simple: elections are won in the middle.
But governing is not the same as campaigning. And here the tension emerges.
Among progressive Labor voters I sense a growing unease that the government’s instinct for reassurance has drifted into risk-aversion. The concern is not that Labor seeks broad appeal. It is that in doing so it sometimes appears to prioritise symbolic alignment with conservative narratives over consistent application of principle.
Foreign policy provides a clear example. Labor voters have watched with confusion as the government has appeared reluctant to apply sustained public pressure on Israel, even as humanitarian conditions in Gaza have deteriorated and international criticism has mounted. Expressions of concern about antisemitism domestically have been swift and prominent – as they should be in any civil society. Yet many progressive voters ask why comparable urgency is not always visible when other minority communities face hostility or discrimination.
The issue is not a hierarchy of prejudice. It is consistency.
Similarly, the government’s position on the Australian women and children stranded in the Al-Roj camp in northern Syria – often described in media shorthand as “ISIS brides” – has troubled parts of Labor’s base. Whatever one thinks of the decisions made by adults who travelled to the conflict zone, their children did not choose their circumstances. Progressive voters tend to see this not as a question of political optics, but of responsibility and due process.
These concerns do not necessarily translate into electoral revolt. Labor voters are unlikely to drift en masse to the Coalition. But disengagement is another matter. Political energy is finite. Enthusiasm cannot be assumed.
There is also a broader strategic question. Is Labor governing from the centre because that is where elections are won in a fragmented media landscape? Or does the leadership believe the electorate itself has shifted permanently toward security-first, caution-heavy politics?
If it is the former, the calculation may prove sound in the short term. If it is the latter, the implications are deeper. Parties that adapt too fully to the perceived anxieties of the moment can find themselves reinforcing them.
None of this suggests that governments should ignore antisemitism, downplay national security, or adopt reflexively oppositional foreign policy positions. It suggests something more modest: that a party built on traditions of fairness and multilateralism must be careful not to allow electoral pragmatism to blur its moral vocabulary.
Winning the centre is an electoral strategy. Maintaining the conviction of a base is a political necessity.
The challenge for Labor is not whether it can continue to reassure moderate voters. It is whether, in doing so, it can convince its own supporters that reassurance has not become retreat.
Keep Independent Journalism Alive – Support The AIMN
Dear Reader,
Since 2013, The Australian Independent Media Network has been a fearless voice for truth, giving public interest journalists a platform to hold power to account. From expert analysis on national and global events to uncovering issues that matter to you, we’re here because of your support.
Running an independent site isn’t cheap, and rising costs mean we need you now more than ever. Your donation – big or small – keeps our servers humming, our writers digging, and our stories free for all.
Join our community of truth-seekers. Please consider donating now via:
PayPal or credit card – just click on the Donate button below
Direct bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
We’ve also set up a GoFundMe as a dedicated reserve fund to help secure the future of our site.
Your support will go directly toward covering essential costs like web hosting renewals and helping us bring new features to life. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us keep improving and growing.
Thank you for standing with us – we truly couldn’t do this without you.
With gratitude, The AIMN Team
I have had an active interest in politics all my life, but right now am confused!! I don’t really know what Labor or the Coalition really stand for?
Well dissected Roswell.
The shame of it all is that with a good majority, Labor did not take the opportunity to put a few progressive measures in place immediately, leaving plenty of time before the next election to work the middle ground.
The two major parties have become institutions in themselves, offering career paths for those who do not rock the boat.
It’s been the death of imaginative thinking.
Agreed with jonangel & Steve.
It appears that the present cellar-dwelling city slum focus group members cannot see that the 1972-1975 Whitlam LABOR government was a reforming progressive government, led by possibly the most competent PM since Federation and flawed by the undisciplined actions of some Ministers.
Choosing to just sit there in case somebody/anybody complains that change is proposed or occurs is the typical NOtional$ response to progress.
A little history (that may not be known generally). The US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger sent CIA to overturn the Whitlam government that had unilaterally withdrawn from the Vietnam in 1972, then expressed sentiments of independence that Australia should have control of everything within their national boundaries, including the Pine Gap spy station. There were no problems with the US until those fateful words.
The staff at Buckingham Palace staff decided to remove the Whitlam LABOR government because Whitlam was a socialist and so an unsatisfactory PM.
The fearful LABOR focus groups have to realise that the USA (United States of Apartheid) never acts in the best interest of anybody else but as elected representatives are responsible to the voters.
So where are the LABOR policies to rectify nine (9) too many years of COALition maladministration and misgovernment??
Just read the following — Anthony Albanese is under more heavy fire after he issued a terse one-word answer to a question about child sexual abuse survivor and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.
Albanese took part in a rapid-fire Q and A at the Future Victoria summit on Wednesday night, where he was asked to reply with one-word answers. ‘I’ll try,’ the Prime Minister responded.
When asked to provide a description of Ms Tame, the 2021 Australian of the Year, Albanese replied: ‘difficult’.
Tame hit back on Thursday morning when she reposted a message from sex abuse survivor and advocate Harrison James taking a brutal swipe at Albanese.
‘Difficult is the misogynist’s code for a woman who won’t comply. History tends to call her ‘courageous,’ Mr James captioned a photo with Tame.
He added: ‘Love you Grace Tame. Thank you for refusing to be anything but brave.’
Sentiments with which I concur.
But this was not very smart from Albo, because this was obviously a set-up that he could have refused, with good humour.
But it does give a glimpse.
You picture of Albasleazy and the Israevil flag says it all.
If “Albo” is the centre then I must Vladimir Ilyich Lenin!!!
The situation with Grace Tame may well be difficult – not necessarily saying the woman herself is difficult, whatever some people want it to mean as a derogatory term.
Regarding the trapped Australian women and children in Syria, Labor needs to act quickly and bring them all home to Australia where they belong, and let our laws then be applied as appropriate. Otherwise Labor will create the same type of problem as the Coalition faced with the Tamil family of Biloela.
Yes, you are correct, the Whitlam government did more for our country, in a short period of time than any government since.
I haven’t cast a vote in a Federal election since the ’70’s, when a properly elected people’s government was dismissed by the crown and nothing has changed, this could happen again.
For get the bullshit, we live in a Monarchy and have done since day one.
Albo’s one word response to Grace Tame? Could “difficult” mean that it is difficult to choose one word to describe a person? And anyway what a storm in a tea cup – the media haven’t a clue how to raise and discuss existential problems without triviality and personal denigration. I don’t know what is required to qualify as a journalist these days – certainly not common sense or any sense of intellect.
The ALP always has been and unfortunately will always be the Detritus Collectors of whatever Political Hegemony is in question! Based in the basest of Unionist principles, ie. ALL USELESS WORKERS ARE VALID; The ALP has spent decades trying to justify the laziness and entitlement of it’s workers.
BUT WHAT THE UNION MOVEMENT NEVER REALISED WAS, HOW GREEDY AND UNPRINCIPLED THE WEALTHY ELITE ACTUALLY WERE!
It will take more than a basic Revolution to disrupt the greedy corporate elite today. Just look at Trump’s supporters: And look at how hard it is to find a tradesman in your local area?!
Democracy is stuffed: And let’s face it; You and everyone of you lazy, greedy parasites, sucking on our Democratic Civilisation; is to blame!…. …. … SO BE IT?
SO BE IT? How connected to your social system do you feel you really belong to? How much are you really prepared to devote to your local community? How much do you really care for your next-door neighbour? WONDER; WONDER; WONDER…. (Suspicion: NONE AT ALL!)
OK: LIVE AS YOU LIVE AND REAP THE REWARDS FOR THOSE WHO LIVE ALONE! BUT THOSE ALONE WILL NEVER REAP THE REWARDS OF FRIENDSHIP; COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY…
Yep, but one would add two central factors that are missed in the RW MSM & influencer noise eg using dodgy demographic analysis of ‘immigration’ &/or population linking to Albanese, by our skip RW MSM.
Simple explanation of this influence over voters since Howard has been the consolidation of RW MSM and commentator ecosystem informed by fossil fueled Koch climate science denial & ‘segregation economics’, with the anti-immigrant ‘passive eugenics’ of Tanton* Networks.
Allegedly several years ago, News management inferred editorial from Tucker Carlson*, familiar with the late Tanton, an admirer of the white Australia policy, who advised to get people talking about ‘immigrants’ and using ‘jazzed up stats’ or inflated data to misrepresent demographic situation of ‘the other’.
The latter has been described as ‘the architect of the modern anti-immigration movement’ (SPLC) and ‘the most influential unknown man in America (NYT) and a proponent of white minority rule.
SPLC 2002 in ‘John Tanton is the Mastermind Behind the Organized Anti-Immigration Movement….. Since 1998, the links have been strengthened between key anti-immigration activists and groups and white supremacist organizations – in particular, the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) and American Renaissance ….The danger is not that immigration levels are debated by Americans, but that the debate is controlled by bigots and extremists whose views are anathema to the ideals on which this country was founded…..’ Sound familiar aka RW MSM, ON/LNP etc. talking points?
Add a heaving mass of misinformed middle aged and older skip Australians, about 7+ million (? never talked about?) who have been exposed to decades of rubbish RW MSM and now ABC….as ‘the great replacement’ is about to begin, permanently
@ Mark Shields: There writes an author who appears to require professional psychological assistance to overcome his addiction to becoming a keyboard warrior.
I disagree with your opinion of ”the ALP”. When have the COALition EVER done anything for the workers??
Whether Labor is governing from the centre, centre-right, or centre-left is a distraction from Labor’s bad governance. Labor has been governing for corporate elites and not the people of Australia.
Leaving up-to-4 million Australians living in poverty is bad governance.
Giving away our gas for free is bad governance.
Overseeing gas pricing that sees Australian paying top dollar for our own gas, and consequently high energy bills is bad governance.
Taxing Australian nurses and beer drinkers more than foreign-owned gas companies is bad governance.
Allowing foreign-owned companies to dodge tax by shipping profits overseas is bad governance.
Cooking our future by opening up more gas and coal fields in total contradiction to climate science expert advice is bad governance.
Campaigning on improved transparency and integrity in government, and claiming jobs for mates and corruption would end then making worse is bad governance.
Bringing in housing policies that increase the price of houses in the name of improving housing affordability is bad governance.
Throwing away probably over $400 billion for no submarines but building a nuclear waste dump somewhere that they won’t tell us is bad governance.
Jailing children as young as 10 whilst corporate criminals get a slap on the wrist is bad governance.
Entrenching disadvantage in our public schooling is bad governance.
Allowing systemic problems in childcare to fester is bad governance.
Strangling our tertiary education system is bad governance.
Decimating our aged-care system further with a robo-assessment regime that is failing badly is bad governance.
Failing to invest in research and development is bad governance
Failing to act on gambling problems is bad governance.
Diminishing the NDIS through use of a robo-tool is bad governance.
Further decimating Australian manufacturing through exorbitant gas prices is bad governance.
Engineering a vicious, violent assault on peaceful protesters is bad governance.
The new fascist regime on the block sounds more appropriate than a centrist government when the mountain of surveillance laws, granting of extra powers to the AFP and ASIO, alterations to FOI laws to cloak the workings of government in secrecy, persecution of whistleblowers, the formation of secret new AFP commands to ‘control’ protests against AUKUS, laws attacking freedom of speech for designated groups (not for everyone, just designated groups), and more anti-protest laws than any other Western nation, that Labor has passed, been a part of or attempted to pass is considered.
Grace Tame is right. Albanese’s ‘difficult’ was misogynistic. It is not the first time he has acted in a misogynistic manner.
He behaved in a misogynistic fashion towards Sen. Fatima Payman during negotiation talks over a bill in the last sitting session of parliament prior to the last federal election.
Labor has created a new police unit armed with long rifles to intimidate the citizens of Minnseapolis.
Labor rules through intimidation, fear, lies, its intimate relationship with establishment media, kowtowing to power and big Capital, and throwing the odd bone to the rustedons to keep them faithful.
It beggars belief how Labor could be described as ruling from the centre – it engineered a vicious, violent attack on its own citizens for Pete’s sake.
Labor are neo-liberal extremists – robodebt 2, robo-assessment, privatization of public service, anti-protest laws and oppression to protect corporate interests, giving away Australian resources to foreign-owned corporations, trampling of native title rights to benefit corporations, and even the outsourcing of responsibilities of our courts (the Federal court outsources to transcription of court proceedings, you have to pay a Canadian company to find out what happened in an Australian ‘open court’.)
Looking at the backgrounding by the establishment media going on, it would appear that this year’s bone will be some movement on CGT discounts and negative gearing (3 years late). The biggest purveyor of hatred is NewsCorp, yet, it was amongst the first to be carved out of the new hate laws. Take a gander at how many interviews Labor does with SkyNews.
Labor is already backgrounding for the coming budget with neo-liberal 101, focus on inflation and fiscal discipline, treat unemployment as nothing but a tool to lower inflation.
The Coalition has been leaking supporters to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in droves, but it is not surprising to find out that Labor has also leaked some supporters. Under Albanese, Labor has increased dramatically its targeting of Liberal seats, and in doing so has taken its own supporters for granted by moving further towards fascism and going nuts with neo-liberalism.
One nation is as phoney as Albanese; the only party of any integrity is the Greens.
It’s the mainstream media that’s smashing the fragility that’s democracy. It’s mostly corporatized, relying on capitalistic capture, so invents and pumps sensation in every direction to prolong its survival. It’s main target will be those that threaten its survival – in this instance in Oz the Labor govt of the day.
Albo does not excel on the brutal ad hoc podiums of the mainstream media. He’s not the master of inspiration, and they’ve got his measure, and he ought not go there. His media minders must have rocks in their heads – his strengths lay elsewhere.
The state of the world has never been more full of strategic nightmares and discombobulated firecrackers. A situation coming for a few decades, and now with US exposed, become explosive via Trump and the unabashed launch of the fascist Zionista.
Given the ‘Centre’, the Left’ and the ‘Right’ are all as jetsam at sea, tags of a past no longer relevant, as the ‘west’ is in extremis. One has to remember who gutted Oz economic diversity (such as it ever was) and why, and then surely look at all Oz political parties and indies, who is at their top, and their executive levels, and who could possibly manage the situation for Oz folk’s well-being not only domestically, but internationally. Given particularly that Oz, forced by past stupidities, is predominantly stuck for the time being in import / export dependency and can’t function as a ‘utopia’ in isolation.
Once again, Gongongche’s response would be, about, mine..
@ Gonggongche 1st post, exactly!