By A.J. Freeman, Commonwealth Sentinel
March 13, 2025 – Sydney, Australia
Anthony Albanese – “Albo” to his mates – swept into power in 2022 promising to be the voice of Australia’s battlers, the working-class kid from Camperdown who’d never forget his roots.
Three years on, that promise feels shaky. With a track record pockmarked by missteps, a cosy dance with China, and a green obsession that’s left many Aussies out in the cold, questions swirl: can Albo lead, or is he stumbling toward a one-term exit?
Researching his life and rise in politics was about as interesting as watching the grass grow. This is a man with almost no experience in life, and a myopic worldview governed by perceptions that appear to have been formed from his early childhood followed by his immersion in communist-inspired policies later on.
Is he capable of continuing to lead Australia?
This is a vexatious question today for most Australians. As the next election looms, his fate might hinge on Greens and teals – a lifeline most voters dread – while his policies leave a trail of economic bruises and broken hopes.
A Battler’s Rise – or a Lucky Break?
Albo’s tale starts in the rough-and-tumble of 1960s Sydney – a single mum on a pension, and a council flat. He joined Labor at 15, cut his teeth at Sydney Uni, and by 1996 had Grayndler in his pocket – a seat he’s clung to for 29 years. He climbed the ranks: Infrastructure Minister under Rudd and Gillard, a blink as Deputy PM, then Opposition Leader in 2019. Come 2022, he surfed a wave of Coalition fatigue to the top job, promising to “end the climate wars” with a voice that cracked like he meant it.
When will we ever learn that both major political parties are just two wings on the same bird? Our vote doesn’t matter. The game is rigged so that one of them always gets into power. So, Albo winning the race is nothing to crow about. He just happened to be there!
“Mark McGowan’s popularity was credited with getting Anthony Albanese into The Lodge in 2022,” ABC News noted, hinting Albo rode coattails more than he blazed trails. The public is starting to wonder if he’s less a leader and more a placeholder who lucked out when Morrison flamed out.
Green Dreams Turning Sour
Albo’s climate obsession – 43% emissions cut by 2030, tethered to the Paris Agreement – is his big swing. Coal’s crumbling – from 70% of the grid in 2019 to 60% now – while solar and wind hit 35%. He’s betting on a “renewable superpower,” with a $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund to prove it. But the shine’s wearing off fast.
Coal jobs have tanked – 10,000 gone since 2022, says ABS – and the green replacements are slow to materialize. “He’s more focused on saving the planet than saving Australian jobs,” Sky News commentator Andrew Bolt jabbed in 2023, echoing a sentiment that’s festering in cities and towns around the country.
Rural Aussies aren’t feeling the love either – 10% of households can’t pay power bills, according to the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), and grid hiccups like South Australia’s 2023 blackout clearly showing the cracks that are apparent across the country.
“Struggling Aussies erupted when news broke last September of the Prime Minister’s new five-bedroom waterfront property at Copacabana,” the Daily Mail reported, pointing out the hypocrisy of his green rhetoric contrasting with his plush lifestyle that feels out of reach for most.
His policies appear to be struggling to meet their goals. Coal exports still roll out – 80% of production – making his eco-warrior act look half-baked.
China: Too Close for Comfort?
Albo’s China play is another head-scratcher. He’s the bloke who spoke Mandarin at a 2018 CCP-linked event, and his 2023 Beijing trip unlocked $20 billion in exports – wine, lobster, the works.
It’s a lifeline for some, but others smell a sellout.
“Anthony Albanese has defended record-high immigration levels under his watch,” the Daily Mail noted in February 2025, linking his China thaw to broader economic pressures that leave locals reeling.
No hard proof he’s Beijing’s lapdog – although AUKUS and the Quad say otherwise – but the optics rankle.
“He took aim at the Liberal leader, suggesting he owned more property than the PM,” news.com.au reported in 2025, dodging questions about his own Copacabana pad by pointing fingers at Dutton.
Whenever these politicians are put on the spot, instead of answering the questions they fob it off by pointing the finger elsewhere. And then they wonder why us Aussies don’t trust them.
From Rags to Riches – and a PR Headache
Albo’s wallet tells a tale of its own. He started lean – a $76,000 MP salary in ’96, a $146,000 Marrickville home in 1990 with ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt. Now, on $607,531 as PM, he’s worth somewhere between $5 to $10 million: a $2.9 million Marrickville sale in 2021, a $600,000-$700,000 Canberra flat, and that $4.3 million Copacabana beach house he acquired in 2023 – partly funded by flipping a $1.85 million Dulwich Hill pad. Over 29 years, he’s grossed $4.5 to $6 million from parliament, trimmed by tax and divorce, with super and perks like The Lodge sweetening the pot.
“Channel 9 star, Karl Stefanovic, didn’t hold back about Anthony Albanese’s ‘hare-brained idea’ that may have swung the election,” Yahoo News quipped in March 2025, roasting the beach buy as a tone-deaf flex amid a housing crisis.
Policies That Hurt More Than Help
Albo’s time in power’s been a bruising slog. The 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum crashed – 60% loudly voting “No” – shredding his unity pitch.
The cost of living’s a gut punch – inflation peaked at 7.5%, rates hit 4.35%, and his tax cuts barely touch the sides.
“Legislative setbacks, rising interest rates and living costs, as well as concerns over housing affordability have impacted Albanese’s government,” SBS News summed up in February 2025. Housing’s a joke under Albo – 10,000 affordable homes against a million needed – while coal’s collapse and green costs pile on.
The man on the street knows that anything he proposes gets rubber stamped by the party. We’ve all see how it’s gone before. Do Aussies want more of the same again?
Of course, he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s importing hundreds of thousands of people and settling them in Labor areas: Vote buying on a grand scale, using our money to fund it.
Of course there is a housing shortage!
Our infrastructure just cannot handle the sheer volume. And it’s Aussies that end up living on the streets. Albo appears to be oblivious to the cause and effect. Another red flag for many Aussies.
Hanging by a Thread – Greens and Teals to the Rescue?
Can Albo cling on in 2025?
The polls are grim – Labor’s deadlocked with Dutton’s Liberals, a freefall from 2022.
“Peter Dutton and the Liberals are vastly outperforming Anthony Albanese and Labor on Gen-Z-heavy video platform TikTok,” ABC News reported in February 2025, signalling a vibe shift. But saying Dutton is outperforming Albo is not saying much. Dutton is only slightly less uninspiring.
Albo is in a bind. Coal country hates him, the suburbs resent him, and Dutton’s “weak Albo” barbs are sticking.
His lifeline? Greens and teals – the inner-city crew pushing radical cuts most Aussies recoil from. Only 30% of the people trust the Greens, per Resolve, and “McGowan’s popularity was credited with getting Anthony Albanese into The Lodge,” not some lefty utopia. Albo’s dodging a coal ban, but that might not save him from a minority government nobody wants.
What Kind of Leader Is He?
Albo’s no mastermind – he’s an Aussie battler who lucked into the hot seat, and now he’s flailing to prove he belongs. His green dreams and China cuddles have gutted jobs and jacked up costs, leaving working-class Aussies – his supposed tribe – high and dry.
The Voice flop shows he’s clueless about the mood of the nation; the housing crisis proves he’s lost the plot. While he rabbits on about climate change and renewables, people are feeling the pinch.
“Struggling Aussies erupted,” the Daily Mail captured it best – a leader out of touch, banking on Greens and teals to scrape by.
There are dark rumblings and ill will spreading across the land as Albo’s mismanagement continues to cause more pain for ordinary Aussies. Albo would do well to listen to the people instead of pushing his unrealistic socialist agenda.
Election day’s coming, and it’s looking like Albo’s less a saviour and more a liability we might just ditch.
But the question remains. Who do we vote for? Is Dutton a better choice? Clive Palmer?
Even with the re-entry of a new party backed by deep pockets, the choice seems dismal for anyone wanting change.
Or do we just ignore the whole thing? Our vote gives these career politicians our Power of Attorney to represent us. No vote = No power of attorney.
Comrade Albo has achieved what his idols Whitlam and Hawke never managed. Under his rule, Australia is beginning to look a lot like Stalinist Russia these days, led by a limp-wristed, clueless boy from Marrickville.
One thought on “The Boy from Camperdown”
…his real surname is Ellery . He was born to Maryanne Ellery, who adopted the surname Albanese after a brief relationship with Carlo Albanese, an Italian steward, during a 1962 cruise. Maryanne, a single mother, raised Anthony in Sydney, initially telling him his father had died in a car accident. To avoid social stigma in 1960s Australia, she used the Albanese surname for herself and her son, naming him Anthony Albanese at birth.