From the outside, it might be difficult to understand why Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek don’t get along.
It’s something that’s back in the spotlight as the Prime Minister plunges the knife into Plibersek again, this time over environmental laws he’s been developing for years.
The reasons they don’t like each other are many, and the animosity between them goes back a long time. long time.
Apparently they would have a lot in common. Albo and Plibersek have been in Parliament for a similar period of time: Albo was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, while Plibersek joined the club at the following federal election in 1998.
Both belong to the left faction of the Labor Party. Their inner-city Sydney electorates are next to each other. Both face challenges from the Greens, who control state seats in their electorates.
They were ministers together during the tumult of the Rudd and Gillard years. They served together in the cabinet and shadow cabinet during Bill Shorten’s time as leader of the Labor opposition, and again after Albo assumed leadership of the party following Shorten’s crushing 2019 election defeat.
So why don’t they get along?
Simply put, it’s a case of Albanese (seven years older than Plibersek) not liking the up-and-comer putting herself first.
Much in common… but far from friends: the intrigue surrounding Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek’s relationship has only increased this week after the prime minister apparently dealt a mortal blow to environmental laws in the which has been working for a long time. Above, the couple in 2012.
Anthony Albanese and Plibersek rose through the ranks of the New South Wales Labor Party as young people, although not at the same time – Albo seven years her senior.
For much of their joint time in Parliament, Albo was the more senior figure of the two.
However, after Kevin Rudd’s 2013 election defeat, Plibersek’s star rose.
Rudd’s defeat, amid years of leadership drama with Julia Gillard, led the party to adopt new rules for selecting its leader: half the votes cast by party members and the other 50 percent by its officials. elected.
Albo saw this new approach as his chance to become Labor leader.
It was a goal the man himself admits he never had until he briefly became deputy prime minister (for just 83 days) in the final months of Rudd’s tenure as prime minister.
Albo set out to use the 2013 campaign for the Labor leadership to raise his profile and generate the kind of support among members that could knock Shorten out of the race.
He then wanted Plibersek to back him as leader. But he said he would happily serve as an understudy to Albo or Shorten.
It was unrealistic for the Labor Party to elect a leader from central Sydney and an MP who lived in the next electorate. Especially when both deputies belonged to the left faction.
Albo was elected to federal Parliament in 1996. Plibersek was elected in 1998. Both represent inner Sydney seats that are threatened by the Greens.
Here you go Madam Deputy Leader… Leader Albo speaks to Plibersek and then Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, after they took over the leadership of the party. Photo above from 2015
That helped make Shorten the most viable option: he was a leader of Victoria’s right faction and would be paired with a left-wing New South Wales MP.
Albo wanted Plibersek not to run for deputy, but she refused.
That ruined Albo’s chances and he was furious.
Albo gained more support among members of the party’s left-leaning branch and was unable to get enough votes in the party room, who he believed had split in favor of a Shorten-Plibersek candidacy.
Shorten was elected Labor leader.
Simply put, Albo blames Plibersek for Shorten’s narrow victory.
Plibersek over the next six years developed his own animosity towards Albo, believing that he took regular opportunities to follow his lead when Shorten’s poll numbers were low.
He saw it as a direct threat to his own political ambitions, which at the time were linked to Shorten’s.
The reasons why they don’t like each other are many, and the animosity between them goes back a long time.
Had Shorten been successful in the 2019 election, Plibersek would have become deputy prime minister and, by extension, overtaken Albo as heir apparent.
When Shorten lost in 2019, he quickly sought to endorse Plibersek as the best candidate to take the leadership.
But Albo had already lined up his political ducks and quickly announced his intention to run.
The left supported him and Plibersek quickly announced that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
It’s a standard line for politicians who don’t have the numbers to fulfill their political ambitions at the time.
During his tenure as opposition leader, Albo had no choice but to keep Plibersek in the cabinet.
Few voters know it, but it is the party faction, not the leader, that selects the parliamentarians who make up the Labor bench.
Albo also kept Plibersek in the education portfolio she coveted.
The gap between the two deepened when Albo became leader of the opposition.
But as opposition leader, Albo felt that Plibersek always took advantage of opportunities to expand his media profile, annoying him when his popularity was in doubt.
From Albo’s perspective, the actions were unfair and exacerbated the rift between the couple. But at that moment he had no choice but to take care of her in a hidden cabinet.
Opposition leaders do not have the power of prime ministers.
However, once Labor won the 2022 election and got the keys to The Lodge, it took the opportunity to remove Plibersek from his much-loved education portfolio and handed him the environment portfolio instead.
If I could have, I would have demoted her completely from the ministry, but as already mentioned, Labor leaders cannot choose their frontline teams, that is done by factions.
And Plibersek has significant power within the left faction.
But the shift to a dead-end portfolio backfired. Putting Plibersek in the Environment portfolio gave him enormous ability to appeal to the party’s traditional left-wing base.
It approved all kinds of environmental requests and stifled mining projects in the name of environmental protection.
It has been the perfect portfolio for Plibersek to gain supporters on the left to help with any future leadership tilts, assuming Albo’s leadership falls.
The couple, of course, deny that there is a rift between them. But anyone who knows anything about its long and troubled history knows that denials are nonsense.
Plibersek has enjoyed watching Albo squirm, as he was recently forced to do so, having overturned his decision on environmental reforms negotiated with the Greens.
WA Premier Roger Cook was concerned that “nature-positive” reforms would impact mining in his state ahead of the impending state election.
It is also a key state for Albo, having won five seats against the Liberals in the west in 2022. Without those improvements, Labor would not have been able to form a majority government.
So, with speculation mounting that Albo will reshuffle his cabinet in January, don’t be surprised if he finds a new home for Plibersek, who has used her powers as Environment Minister to make Albo’s life much more difficult than it already is. during a housing crisis. and cost of living crisis.
But it’s not yet clear which portfolio he might put it aside in.
The couple, of course, deny that there is a rift between them. The Prime Minister did it again today on morning radio!
But anyone who knows anything about its long and troubled history knows that denials are nonsense.
Likewise, you just have to have spoken discreetly with each of them over the years to know that there is no love lost there.
When political ambitions and a long shared history collide, even the best of friends can fight. Even friends who share similar philosophical views on most ideological issues.
Without a doubt, that is the case with Albo and Tanya.