Grattan on Friday: We see a great deal of the Albanese government, but we don't know much about what goes on behind the scenes

PMO

Andrew Leigh won’t have made himself many friends in Labor with his attack this week on the stifling power of the party’s factions.

Then again, when it comes to political advancement, Leigh’s non-factional status has, in opposition and government, left the well-credentialed Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment relatively friendless. To ascend to the higher reaches of the ladder in Labor, you need to march in either the right or left battalion.