Albanese is prioritising governing over spectacle – but in an era of zero-sum politics, is it enough?

‘Just as Albanese defeated Morrison by being the anti-Morrison, Dutton is now seeking to defeat Albanese by being the anti-Albanese,’ writes Katharine Murphy. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Anthony Albanese called in to 3AW on Friday to mark the veteran broadcaster Neil Mitchell’s final shift. Melbourne’s talkback king declined to be sentimental in his last turn around the grounds with a prime minister; Mitchell pushed his guest every which way.

The febrility was ramped up to the point where listeners might have missed the moment where the prime minister said something pretty interesting. “Why is the public turning on you?” Mitchell asked. Albanese said polls came and went, but prime ministers needed to stay focused on the medium term, “not just day-to-day politics, because if you do that, you’ll end up not delivering the sort of government that we need”.