Labor says its listening
LABOR leader Anthony Albanese says the party’s inability to refresh itself after the 2016 election defeat was to blame for its shock loss in 2019.
Mr Albanese, who replaced Bill Shorten as leader after the crushing loss in May, was at the Little Creatures Brewery in Geelong during the weekend as part of his “listening tour”.
He engaged in a 45-minute question-and-answer session alongside deputy leader and member for Corio, Richard Marles.
Reflecting on the election defeat, Mr Albanese admitted Labor needed to be more straightforward and succinct in communicating with the public.
“We did get 48.5 per cent of the vote so we did have substantial support but clearly we didn’t do well enough,” he said.
“One of the things that I’ve been determined to do is acknowledge that we lost the election campaign, and acknowledge that we need to do better.
“That doesn’t mean that we did everything wrong.
“But clearly if you do the same thing, you should expect the same outcome. We need to engage and I think we need a much clearer, more concise message going forward.”
The Sydney-born MP said one of the key mistakes Labor made was a lack of reflection after the 2016 election defeat.
“In 2016 we came close, and we continued on as if that was just one term rather than stopping,” he said.
“It was as if the period from 2013 to 2019 was a continuum.
“Many of the policies that we went to the election with in 2019 were actually announced in 2014 or 2015 and it just accumulated.
“So we had a vast range of policies but not enough of a story.”
Mr Albanese said he picked up a key insight on his listening tour from the Gen-Xs in the Geelong audience.
Generation X is the demographic cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding the Millennials, born from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s.
“You always pick up a different insight wherever you go,” Mr Albanese said.
“Today one of the insights was talking about the Gen-Xs and a feeling that people around the age of 50 are under pressure in terms of work, they’re under pressure because of their kids and the uncertainty that’s there about the changing nature of their work and the impact of technology.
“As well, because people are living longer, their parents needing care in some cases as well and how to afford that.
“So they’re feeling under pressure and that was one of the insights that came out this morning.”