Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey

Trouble is, the monkey might then rip your face off

This is the latest in a series of evolving thoughts on the way the Albanese Government is handling its first term. Earlier pieces are here, here, here and here.

In The Monthly, Sean Kelly considers the idea that Anthony (call me Anthony) Albanese’s approach to government may be a new and successful iteration of political leadership.

Kelly writes:

At this early stage, many observers – myself included – remain hunters looking for the secret centre of this government, examining each leaf and broken branch, looking for something other than what is obvious on the surface. Perhaps, we think, a fight will break out, as it has in the past, and then we will know the truth.

But what if we are looking in the wrong place? What if the answer is right there on the surface? It is at least possible that the government’s centre will turn out to be what Albanese so often talks about: a patient commitment to long-term government in the pursuit of building a society in which nobody is held back and nobody le…