Albo’s search for the middle leaves him exposed on both flanks

While the corporate media has cornered Prime Minister Albanese on messaging, the right is filling the rhetorical void. Andrew Gardiner He looks at his reflections.

Canberra’s spin cycle has become familiar following both Donald Trump’s kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro at the weekend and the attacks at Bondi Beach before that. It’s a dynamic we’re seeing more and more of, both of which have taken a clear (albeit controversial) stance, leaving our super-cautious Prime Minister in the rhetorical dust.

In a press statement issued on Sunday morning, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley blasted him unqualified support Behind Trump’s widely condemned move against Maduro: “We must live in a world where dictators and despots will face justice for the crimes they commit.” At Bondi Beach, Pauline Hanson was completely in his mood: “I have been warning Australia since 1996 about the dangers of allowing people into this country who refuse to integrate and assimilate.”

By contrast, Albanese’s handling of Venezuela felt overly disaggregated and went through a DFAT committee to ensure Trump would not be triggered to impose a new tariff (or worse). “We continue to support international law and a peaceful, democratic transition in Venezuela that reflect the will of the Venezuelan people (and) call on all parties to support dialogue and diplomacy to ensure regional stability and prevent tensions.”

As with his response at Bondi Beach, this was a typically safe, small-target approach; He was simultaneously referring to “international law” and concerned about not offending the man who violated it. Tired Amy Remeikis summed it up well.

The US has lost any claim to legitimacy – Xi can do whatever he wants with Taiwan, Putin can carry out his plans – and the US has nothing. The Coalition says ‘this is great’ and Labor is quiet/’seriously concerned’. great times. https://t.co/yLd0LsWjhN

— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) January 3, 2026

But Ley’s “this is great” opening also has a political advantage. Say what you will about his support of piracy and kidnapping in Venezuela or Hanson’s shameless pandering to racist impulses at Bondi Beach. The truth is that both sent a clear message and were willing to take a stand.

This puts many voters at odds with Albanese.

Bondi voting

Ley and Hanson’s attacks worked, with the corporate media buoyed by a narrative that mirrored their own quite well. One SMH The poll, published just before Christmas, found that 46 per cent of people thought the government’s response to Bondi Beach was poor, with respondents losing the lead over Ley, their preferred choice for Prime Minister. almost halfIt takes Hanson’s party to unprecedented heights with 16 percent support.

At this early stage of his tenure as Leader of the Opposition, Ley has not accumulated enough baggage to be labeled “just another somersault politician” in the eyes of the punters. More than two years after the election, independent voters have yet to scrutinize him, allowing Ley to present himself – at least for now – as a strong and stable leadership candidate.

“Political parties are ignoring the power of clear, emotional messages at their peril,” said Brisbane-based communications expert Roxane Horton. Looks like Albanese isn’t listening.

It’s a pattern that goes back at least to Kevin Rudd’s time on The Lodge. The corporate media are keen to intervene on any slip-ups by Labour; ALP rolls itself onto a smaller target via a lower profile and workshop communications; the right to try to fill the resulting perceived void in leadership by throwing vocal songs at the same, often friendly, Fourth Estate.

Mainstream media blind spot detection

During Albanese’s first term, Peter Dutton used this trick to build a profile (mostly on issues) that eclipsed Albanese’s. outside jurisdiction).

But the real impact of this unbalanced media environment is on both parties’ policy platforms, pushing both Albanese and Ley to the right. It may be surprising for some readers to learn that at one stage these strange bedfellows came together for the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine.

In 2011, Ley voiced his support for a Palestinian state: “Because it give heart To ordinary people in the West Bank and Gaza”. Previously, Albanian Jewish settlers blamed “The collapse and impasse in the Middle East peace process… is a tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians” in places like the West Bank.

Neither comes within a mile of such statements these days.

In November, pressure from the corporate media, the fossil fuel lobby and his National Party colleagues forced the alleged ‘moderate’ Ley to abandon the Coalition’s commitments. net zero By 2050. There is also his tendency to wade into the swamp of far-right crime and culture wars; This trend was most infamous in a post-2024 scare mongering: “foreign criminalsHe attacks women.

Albo in the middle

Albanese’s return from the Socialist Left to the political environment requires a more comprehensive study. Since his election in 2022, the Prime Minister has presided over a catalog of anemic and sometimes dire policy calls; a few of them are listed here:

• A “toothless” national corruption body (NACC), plagued by narrow parameters and a high bar for public hearings;
• Political Contribution Laws designed to consolidate major parties/block new independent voices such as the ‘Teals’;
• Failure to reform lobbying laws and close loopholes;
• Nepotism and “spousal affairs” are largely left unaddressed;
• Planned Freedom of Information ‘reforms’ that will actually weaken transparency;
• New fossil fuel approvals such as the North West Shelf make the net zero target a joke;

But perhaps the most disgusting call was to break this agreement. judicial media investigationRecommended by a parliamentary committee, it could free the ‘socialist’ Albali from the shackles of pragmatism and the ‘moderate’ Ley from a far-right line. It’s not really him.

Helping level the playing field on information (the coin of the political sphere) was a bridge too far for the Albanians. After all, he is a 30-year-old MP who wants to stay there.

Encouraged by the current media environment, Sussan Ley sometimes goes too far.

The effects of media agenda setting on actual politics predate Kevin Rudd, of course, as far back as the invention of the printing press (1439). Albanese’s small-target approach to media is reflected in policy UQ economics professor John Quiggin ($) calls

far enough to make a difference to the left of the coalition.

Ley and Hanson know that the positive treatment they receive from the corporate media they rely on to win the messaging war has far-right, Faustian terms: steadfast compliance on lower taxes, less regulation and no net zero, to name a few. While Hanson had no problem with such minutiae, Ley was forced to toe this line in the hopes of fending off genuine right-wing rivals like him. Andrew Hastie.

“Independent media is vital for strong democracies,” said Jan Braathu, media freedom representative at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. in question last March. Media diversity helps place the battle of ideas on a playing field that is not overly tilted toward the rich and powerful.

Australian democracy continues to stagger under the weight of concentrated media ownership (almost entirely in right-wing hands). second worst In the world.

The narrative battle here is between the right and something that calls itself the Labor Party – if it can be based on substance. Albanians cannot or will not receive a clear message; Noting the occasional evisceration of the corporate media, that’s actually saying something (remember the Phase Three tax cuts?).

Anyone who doubts the continued influence of corporate media need only look at how things have changed after Bondi Beach. In particular, take a look at the noisy campaign that lasted for weeks despite the fact that a federal Royal Commission into the attack was called at state level.

So how does Albanese handle pressure for an investigation he already thinks is unnecessary? potentially step back and setting up a Royal Commission is precisely what the lack of leadership is accused of.

It seems life imitates narrative.