The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, didn’t sleep much last Thursday night as he waited on news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
Shortly after 6am on Friday, as long-established protocols for the monarch’s death kicked in, Albanese marked the close of the second Elizabethan age with a sombre address to the nation. Deep respect, heartfelt loss, and profound sadness was Albanese’s message.
In the week since, the prime minister has grasped instinctively both the historical weight of the moment and the overwhelmingly sympathetic mood of middle Australia towards the Queen.
So what has happened to Albo, the loose unit, the left-wing warrior who used to vow after breakfast to fight tories and build socialism?
Albanese, despite his republican bent, is a self proclaimed “dork of parliamentary processes”, someone who has deep and genuine respect for the country’s political institutions and the office of prime minister.
He also has a finely tuned radar for political strategy.
In the days that have followed the Queen’s death, Albanese has transcended politics and the personal, knowing that he has the prime ministerial part to play in this significant, if pre-scripted, moment of Australian history.
“At a time like this, my job is to represent the nation, and to represent the views that we have, to follow the protocols which I’ve done. I think there is really something to be said for following the traditions which are there,” Albanese said on Thursday.
“I know I’ve been asked a few times about the debate about the monarchy and those issues. This isn’t the time for that. This is the time to pay respect to Queen Elizabeth, to give thanks for the extraordinary service for 70 years – it has been a remarkable life.”
Albanese’s praise of Queen Elizabeth II has rankled republicans, who are concerned that the prospect of an Australian head of state – which many declared impossible while the Queen lived – is deemed too sensitive to debate now the Queen is dead.
But he knows that using this moment to push the republican cause would be counter-productive. It would be incredibly unpopular in a country where support for a republic has rarely moved beyond the lukewarm and would unnecessarily shake the country’s sense of self at a time when it is looking for political and institutional stability.
Despite being pushed on a number of fronts on everything from the $5 note to the appropriateness of the public holiday to mark a national day of mourning, Albanese has been unwavering, insisting protocols were being followed, and everything that had been put in place was appropriate to commemorate the Queen’s passing.
One only has to look at the artificial outrage stoked by the opposition leader Peter Dutton over the prospect of removing the monarch from the $5 note to recognise the immaturity of the mainstream debate around a republic in this country, and the perilous path Albanese has ahead of him to advance the republican cause.
Albanese has other motivations, too.
By presenting himself as a cautious, even conservative leader at this time, the prime minister is able to use the moment to assure voters that despite being from the left, he can be trusted as a centrist and that his instincts are in line with those of middle Australia (who decide elections).
A quick glance at his FM radio transcripts this week suggest that his lines have been pitch-perfect. “Thanks for representing us,” one FM radio host said to Albanese this week after they had furiously agreed it was “a time for respect”.
It is also a moment for Albanese to position the government for the debate ahead on constitutional change, with the prime minister making clear his focus is on achieving an Indigenous voice to parliament, in line with his commitment before the election.
Rushing a republic vote alongside the question of constitutional recognition, as some have called for, would be a political nightmare and likely doom both questions to failure. Not countenancing a republic vote until a second term of a Labor government was also an election commitment from Albanese, who has been emphasising consistency and delivery as key themes of his government.
As it is, there is much concern among MPs about the prospects of success for the referendum on the voice to parliament, with Albanese stressing this week the challenge of constitutional reform in a country that has voted against change more often than not.
If the vote on a voice to parliament fails, then there are ramifications for the republican question, with the appetite for another public referendum shortly thereafter likely to be diminished.
Albanese may be parking his ideological convictions for now, but the man is no idiot, and his deference to the throne in the wake of the Queen’s passing may prove strategically to be the best – and possibly only way – of achieving constitutional change down the track.
