One of the first things Anthony Albanese did on his return from Tokyo on Wednesday night was visit the cemetery to speak to his mother on the anniversary of her death.

The prime minister left his travelling party behind at Sydney Airport and went to the cemetery alone to mark the 20 years since his mother, Maryanne, died of a brain aneurysm on May 25. In his words, he went to “see her and have a chat”. No doubt there was plenty to talk about.

The visit captures the essence of the Albanese story. In one frame he is the conquering hero who has won the election and been welcomed by world leaders at a global summit, swapping gags with United States President Joe Biden. In the next he is alone at a graveside, the only child of a single mother.

Those who know Albanese say this is who he is. He is the product of his upbringing and is emotional about the past. He remembers dates. He falls silent on anniversaries. He says it is the Irish Catholic in him.

One of the common claims during the election campaign, that voters did not really know Albanese, was a fatuous falsehood all along. As it turned out, voters responded to his empathy far better than they did to Scott Morrison’s more clinical campaign. For all the weariness in some quarters about the Albanese story – yes, some journalists are tired of hearing about the council flat in Camperdown – his upbringing shaped him. And, in the end, it shaped his victory.

One former Liberal minister, speaking to me two weeks before the votes were counted, summed up the simple reason Albanese cut through. “He’s authentic.” Voters responded to what they saw even if they only knew the sketchy details of the Labor leader’s life.

The results in the Resolve Political Monitor, which was impressively accurate about the Labor primary vote just days away from the end, showed that voters thought Albanese was honest, trustworthy and was listening and focused on the right issues. On these key factors he had an edge over Morrison. While the Labor primary is too low for comfort – even a winning campaign has failures – Albanese is confident of 76 or 77 seats. His personal story mattered to the outcome.

Staying authentic is not easy once the doors are opened to The Lodge, Kirribilli House and the RAAF KC-30 that flew the new prime minister to Tokyo and back. The aircraft, a modified Airbus that is mostly used as an air-to-air refueller, was called “Shark One” by the Morrison office but Albanese would be wise to skip the naming rights. After all, it is not his plane.

Albanese handled the Tokyo summit well. He was comfortable with Biden and the two other members of the Quad – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – and made sure his opening remarks offered total support for the security partnership while issuing a new message on climate change. Unlike Morrison, he said action on climate was a key part of cementing alliances in the Pacific – in other words, keeping China at bay. And he was right.

The Albanese argument on climate, derided by conservatives during the election campaign, was endorsed by the Quad leaders and written into their formal statement at the end of the summit. That is a success by any standard. The public moments, like the comedy of Biden pretending to walk out of a meeting, told Australian voters that world leaders were getting along famously with the new prime minister.

Albanese has scored a double win from a fateful decision inside the Liberal campaign. Morrison knew the Quad meeting was planned for May 24 and Liberal cabinet ministers thought this made May 14 the logical election date. Albanese thought this, as well, but not because Morrison confided in him about the Quad meeting – this crucial information was passed on to the Labor leader by others. So the Labor campaign assumed May 14.

In naming May 21 instead, Morrison dragged out the contest to no advantage. Albanese won the campaign. Then he won again with the rush to the Quad. The timing meant Albanese had to be sworn in quickly at Government Housewithout waiting for a majority in parliament; assurances from the crossbench were enough. He vaulted onto the world stage within days of the election, gaining instant authority.

Finally, a note about the media and the election. West Australian Premier Mark McGowan had some sharp words for national journalists this week about the way they asked questions of Albanese during the campaign.

“They were screaming, and interrupting, and rude, and insulting, intimidating and bullying – the sort of stuff that in the workplace you get sacked for,” McGowan said. “They need to reflect on their behaviour. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

McGowan was right to call out the shouting at those press conferences. On occasion, Albanese had barely begun his answer before journalists were yelling an interjection. Even if a question was fair enough, the yelling was out of control.

This happened to Morrison as well. I shouted a question to Morrison about the minimum wage. I had to: there is a fine line between being loud and being rude, but a quiet question is easily ignored in a cramped and crowded doorstop at a small business in a marginal seat. At another point, I asked Morrison whether he was a buffoon for calling the NSW anti-corruption commission a kangaroo court, given others had called him that. Some would consider me rude for being so blunt.

Albanese stumbled at times but kept taking questions. Morrison ignored one journalist for several days, unfairly in my view. One of McGowan’s criticisms was that he saw media take their cameras off their stands at the end of an event and go after Albanese to portray the false impression he was fleeing the media. While I didn’t witness this, there are lessons from the campaign. One: do not turn a press conference into a confected drama. Another: smart questions are better than loud ones.

I heard plenty of smart questions during the campaign. Journalists were right to question Albanese about his policy costingseven though they were unfairly rebuked when they refused to be fobbed off. At one point I saw a brilliant volley of questions from young journalists to Morrison about trans issues, showing they were thoroughly across the policy quagmire. So I have no time for old folk on social media complaining about the youth of today.

Enough about the media. The first week of this new era has only offered a glimpse of how Australia will evolve with a transformed parliament, a new government and a new leader who has promised to change politics for the better.

There may never be another Australian election that combines such a challenging victory for the winner, such as stinging rejection for the loser, such a surge of independent MPs and such a rapid jump to an overseas summit. After winning the steeplechase, Albanese had to race another lap in Tokyo. And he won there, as well.

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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-flying-start-a-graveside-chat-the-albanese-era-takes-off-20220526-p5aorb.html

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