Left Winger Albanese to Become Australian Opposition’s New Leader

(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s main opposition Labor Party turned to a figurehead of its left wing to lead it after a surprise defeat in the federal election earlier this month.

Anthony Albanese, 56, will become Labor leader after Bill Shorten announced he was stepping down when he conceded defeat to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservatives in the May 18 poll. Albanese confirmed he had been elected to the position in a tweet on Monday.

“Thank you to members of caucus, rank and file members and affiliates for your support,” he said. “Together we can return our great party to government in three years time.”

Other senior party figures including education spokesperson Tanya Plibersek, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen and shadow finance minister Jim Chalmers had decided not to contest Albanese for the prize.

The election loss came as a shock to Labor, which had led Morrison’s Liberal-National coalition in opinion polls for years. The defeat was a repudiation of Shorten’s progressive policy agenda which included stripping tax perks from investors and tougher action on climate change, as well a damning verdict of the opposition leader’s own lack of popularity.

“One-in-three Australians voted for us” in the election, Albanese told reporters on Wednesday. “We need to ensure that at the next election we receive far more substantial support because I believe very firmly that this country needs a Labor government.”

Three Faiths

Born and bred in Sydney and a party member since the age of 15, Albanese likes to lay claim to three faiths: the Catholic Church, South Sydney Football Club and Labor. A fan of garage-rock music who sometimes DJs for fund-raising events, the man known as “Albo” has declared he loves “fighting Tories” and only narrowly failed to become Labor leader in 2013.

Albanese is a 23-year veteran of parliament and briefly served as deputy prime minister under Kevin Rudd in 2013, before Labor lost office. He’s held the infrastructure and transport portfolios and is a champion of upgrading road and rail networks to relieve chronic congestion in major cities.

While Albanese has three years to craft a policy agenda before the next election, he’s said he remains committed to “real action” on climate change along with “properly funding” health, education and infrastructure. He’ll need to clarify his party’s position on whether it supports new coal mines, after Shorten’s obfuscation on the issue damaged Labor’s vote in Queensland state.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Chris Bourke

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