PETER VAN ONSELEN: Labor is at risk of the same grave mistake that destroyed the Coalition – and Albo’s triumphant election night speech suggests he may already be making it

By PETER VAN ONSELEN, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 07:13 BST, 4 May 2025 | Updated: 07:36 BST, 4 May 2025

It could be as big of a mistake by Labor to assume this election is an endorsement of its passion for the Welcome to Country being expanded and polemicised as it was for the Liberals to assume the public’s rejection of the Voice was a reflection of a desire to change the government.

The same goes if Labor now thinks it’s a good idea to revisit the Voice in the aftermath of its thumping election win.

Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong in victory sounded like they just might go there, such was the passion in their voices when exclaiming their support for Indigenous reconciliation travelling further down the road towards treaty.

A point Albo has supported in the past – via his T-shirt wearing endeavours as well as with his words – but clamped up on in the immediate aftermath of the referendum failing so comprehensively.

Let’s not forget, it lost with a powerful rejection in every state. Opposed by more than 60 per cent of the voting population.

Equally, opinion polls late in the campaign asking voters if they support more or fewer Welcome to Countries favoured the former. 

Indeed one of the rare moments during the leaders’ debates when those watching warmed to Peter Dutton – as illustrated by the infamous debt worm – came when he expressed the view that the Welcome to Country has been diminished with overuse.

Australians are a generous people. Most would support a preamble in the Constitution recognising our first people’s. Even a Voice crafted differently and not constitutionally enshrined.

Penny Wong speaking during the Labor Party’s election night event in Sydney on Saturday night

Anthony Albanese speaks passionately after winning the federal election

Or rammed down the nation’s throat with the message that if you are opposed to it, you are likely racist.

That attitude is a sure-fire way to turn the population against just causes. 

The tone and sharpness behind the way Albo and Wong expressed themselves on stage had exactly that edge to it for mainstream Australians who might not share their enthusiasm for Indigenous issues but are naturally welcoming and generous.

The display reminded me of Paul Keating’s misunderstanding of the 1993 election result, when he took to the stage in victory to declare the win as ‘a victory for the true believers’.

Three years later he was turfed out of office in one of the biggest electoral drubbings of all time. A worse defeat than the Coalition suffered yesterday.

That moment in time is not precisely analogous. Labor had been in power for a decade and switched leaders 18 months earlier. This government is three years’ young.

But the vote on Saturday night wasn’t an endorsement of Labor’s first term. Certainly not an endorsement of its ill-fated foray into the culture wars via the Voice.

It was a rejection of Peter Dutton personally and a message that not only are the Coalition not ready for a comeback, but they have gone backwards during their first term in opposition.

Anthony Albanese wearing a Yes T-shirt while in Uluru in 2023

Yes voters appearing distraught after the No vote was handed down in October 2023

Opinion polls consistently revealed that voters have been disappointed by Labor’s first term in power. Last night’s result was a mandate to do better, nothing more.

Albo and his team now have that chance and, courtesy of the size of the win, they might have two terms to do better before being seriously challenged again.

But not if they misunderstand the message voters sent.

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PETER VAN ONSELEN: Labor is at risk of the same grave mistake that destroyed the Coalition – and Albo’s triumphant election night speech suggests he may already be making it

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