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With four years and 160 days in the job, Anthony Albanese on Friday edged past Ben Chifley to become Labor’s third-longest serving prime minister.
It is a historical achievement. And having put Paul Keating in the shade last August, he is on schedule to run down Andrew Fisher’s time in office in March. But Bob Hawke’s record eight years and 284 days may be a Sunday too far away.
Nevertheless, this year also marks Albanese’s arrival in parliament 30 years ago when John Howard ended the Keating era. Twenty-seven years later, his election put an end to the revolving door of Labor and Liberal prime ministers. He followed up with victory in the 2025 federal election both unexpected and thumping.
Now Albanese is navigating his most politically vulnerable period since taking office, plagued by a combination of accelerating inflation, internal party pressure – including apparent tension with Treasurer Jim Chalmers and NSW Premier Chris Minns – and self-inflicted scandals including crude admiration of Kylie Minogue and a fumbled explanation of a $6.05 million payment to the Marrickville Golf Club in his electorate.
As a result, his approval rating has plummeted. Polls show Labor is level pegging with One Nation, the party established by year of 1996 fellow alumnus Pauline Hanson.
Albanese is dealing with not just a sense of drift and the need to look energised, but is facing a fundamentally different economic scenario than during his first term. His position has become more difficult because, having pulled a rabbit out of a hat and turned things around for the 2025 election , Labor’s policy problems have become harder.
Albanese learnt from bitter experience in NSW Labor that being in office was better than being right, and his focus has been on the acquisition and maintenance of power, with Labor values a sometimes-distant second.
Despite Labor’s problems, it is benefiting from the Coalition’s continuing fragmentation over policy and dealings with One Nation.
On Saturday, Albanese leaves for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda. Then, with summit season in full bloom, he is off again for almost two weeks for COP, ASEAN and APEC gatherings.
Like many of his predecessors, Albanese has taken flack for travels, but these foreign trips have been one of the most positive aspects of his leadership, with successes in China and the Pacific. He has also kept the relationship with the United States on track despite the vagaries of Donald Trump.
On the eve of his departure, Albanese likened the current moment of economic and social disruption to the hardship of wartime and described the Reserve Bank of Australia as a blunt instrument, suggesting he is trying to distance himself from the bank and tap into public frustration as inflation and rates rise more quickly in Australia than most comparable nations.
It remains to be seen whether this political veteran can win back an increasingly sceptical, frustrated and divided public amid the significant economic and geopolitical challenges facing his government.
Foreign relations always play second fiddle to domestic politics, but thinking globally, Albanese has not forgotten that politics is local. He has left Chalmers to carry the can for Tuesday’s Reserve Bank decision on interest rates.
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