Guardian inmates claim victory as new warden clocks off
What on Earth is going on in Guardian Australia’s Canberra bureau? Most of its top political journalists, as well as Amy Remeikis, have left for greener pastures, yet their experienced new political editor has also seemly vanished from view.
Karen Middleton took over from Katherine Murphy, who now works directly for Anthony Albanese as one of his official spin doctors.
Upon her arrival, Middleton tried to impose a modicum of discipline on an office that, at the time, really did resemble an asylum run by the inmates.
For her troubles the respected press gallery veteran ended up clashing with the previously unrestricted, oh-so-virtuous ones in the office (‘don’t tell me what to do, I’m a fiercely independent journalist!’). Now she appears to be on some sort of indefinite leave, whether it’s forced or voluntary.
Middleton’s absence follows reports of HR claims and counter-claims, with certain journos pontificating their way out the door referencing their ‘clean record’ like they’ve just walked out of jail having served 30 years for a crime they didn’t commit…
Whether Middleton overstepped anyone’s delicate mark or simply fell victim to the Guardian also-rans’ ‘we run this joint, not you’ mentality, losing someone of her pedigree couldn’t come at a worse time on the eve of a federal election campaign.
She has 30 years in Canberra under her belt, having worked as political editor at SBS before becoming the Saturday Paper’s senior political writer.
What on Earth is going on at Guardian Australia? No one knows were the website’s new political editor Karen Middleton (pictured) has gone – but I hear she may be a casualty of the ‘we run this joint, not you’ mentality that thrives among journos in the Canberra bureau
Most of the Guardian’s top political journalists, as well as Amy Remeikis (pictured), have left for greener pastures in recent months. Now the political editor has seemly vanished from view
She has also been a regular on ABC Insiders on a Sunday morning for many years – and, unlike the growing cabal of callow panelists our ABC deems ideologically single-minded enough to participate, Middleton has real insights to share.
She is also the only biographer of Anthony Albanese (yours truly wrote Victory, about his 2022 election win, but it wasn’t a biography).
You would think Guardian readers might want her back on deck for the campaign, surely? Rather than be forced to consume what the rest of the inmates churn out without the guidance of a warden.
To make matters worse, the online newspaper is also without a senior political correspondent at the moment.
Whatever is going down at the always stuck-up and self-righteous website, you do have to love the irony of it facing so many staffing troubles and workplace disputes.
It looks down its nose in judgement at what goes on elsewhere, especially in TV land, yet its humble house is in complete disarray. And it won’t comment on its problems, acting like all is well when everyone knows it’s not. Hypocrisy is thy name, Guardian!
For a news organisation that claims its political coverage is a cut above the rest (which it certainly isn’t, given the deeply biased and polemic nature of most of its musings) it can’t afford to lose someone of Middleton’s calibre.
According to a recent feature on the busy lives of high-profile Australians, Albo prefers a more leisurely start to his day, rising at 6:30am to take his dog outside
Put simply, she has credibility where so many others who have had ‘Guardian’ inked onto their bodies in a cult-like show of pride never did.
‘Low-energy Albo’
Whenever he does finally call the election, the PM might need to do something about his low-energy starts to the day.
John Howard was famous for morning walks at the crack of dawn. Kevin Rudd used to brag about being up well before sunrise taking briefings and getting across that day’s news. Tony Abbott had cycled half the distance from Canberra to Sydney before the rest of us even thought about turning off our alarms.
Not Albo. According to a recent feature on the busy lives of high-profile Australians, he prefers a more leisurely start to his day.
At 6:30am he takes his dog outside (presumably to let nature take its course) before making himself a cup of coffee around 7am.
He doesn’t get on the phone to staff for his morning briefings until 8am apparently.
Now, granted, compared to many of us that’s still a relatively early start to one’s working day, but it’s hardly what you might call energetic. Albo will need to up the ante on the campaign trail.
By contrast, Peter Dutton (pictured during our interview earlier this week) starts his day at 4:30am, apparently, before hitting the gym for an hour
Ex-PM Tony Abbott had cycled half the distance from Canberra to Sydney before the rest of us even thought about turning off our alarms
In the same article, NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns said he starts his day at 5am with a ‘burst’ of exercise. Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton‘s day starts at 4:30am, before hitting the gym for an hour.
What exercise does Albo do? According to Team Albo, quoted in the article, ‘exercise in the morning can be difficult to fit in and depends on where in the country or the world the Prime Minister is.’ At least they’re honest about it.
Now the last thing I’d want to do is lower the tone of the forthcoming federal election by giving the PM an unflattering new nickname… but I’ve heard more than a few Canberra insiders referring to our dear leader as ‘low-energy Albo’.
Do you think it’ll catch on?
Tanya throws shade in the pink press
Tanya Plibersek has been at it again, doing another profile interview for an article laying into Albo.
The piece appeared in QNews which bills itself as ‘one of Australia’s leading LGBTIQA+ media organisations’.
It describes Plibersek as ‘one of the ALP’s most effective and experienced politicians’, asking the fawning question: ‘Why isn’t Tanya Plibersek prime minister?’
The anti-Albo barbs don’t end there. The article highlights a recent Essential Media poll revealing 63 per cent of voters think the PM is out of touch, before going on to explain why Plibersek is a true woman of the people.
It even quotes a ‘Labor insider’ as claiming the PM ‘comes across as an ineffectual buffoon’ and is ‘weak’, ‘arrogant’ and ‘can’t handle criticism’. Ouch!
Thickening the plot I was told by a former staffer of Tanya’s that the quote was provided by a current staffer. However, the author of the original QNews piece, Peter Hackney, assures me it wasn’t, and I take him at his word.
Plibersek’s office were so annoyed by any suggestion her office would be silly enough to get caught backgrounding against the PM, they reached out to deny having done so. However for whatever reason they didn’t raise any concerns about Albo being described as a weak buffoon.
Tanya Plibersek was interviewed for this fawning piece in QNews, which quoted an ‘insider’, who I am reliably informed works for Plibersek, as claiming the PM is ‘weak’ and ‘arrogant’
For her part, Plibersek’s quotes in the piece either attack the opposition leader Peter Dutton (on message) or are delicately worded when reflecting poorly on her boss.
For example, talking about Albo’s refusal to include a question about sexuality in the latest census – before backflipping once put under pressure for not doing so – Plibersek simply says:
‘I’m part of a big old creaky organisation called the Australian Labor Party, and sometimes it takes it longer to move than an individual on their own would.’
Translation: I wanted the question included in the census; Albo got there eventually.’
Towards the end of the article it describes the topic of Albo as ‘a sensitive one’. No kidding…
The big question: After Alfred, when will Albo call it?
Today was meant to be the day that Albo called the election. But now that slow-moving Cyclone Alfred has borne down on the Australian east coast and the flooding in its aftermath continues, the PM has promised he won’t call the election any time soon.
Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was once asked what was the most difficult thing about being leader. ‘Events, my dear boy, events,’ he replied.
Events can’t always be controlled.
The PM had hoped to be in Perth today, basking in the glory of WA Labor’s state election victory the evening before. There he was due to announce the start of his own federal election campaign, setting the date for April 12.
Team Albo had it all worked out. Going early would avoid having to hand down a nasty budget littered with spending blowouts and covered in red ink courtesy of deficits right across the forward estimates.
If he can’t call the election in time for an April 12 polling date, he can’t hold it the following Easter weekend either, nor the ANZAC weekend after that.
Which makes avoiding the Budget set down for March 25 all but impossible. Election campaigns need to last 33 days. Calling one too close to when the budget is currently earmarked to go ahead risks Albo copping more criticism.
He’s had to navigate his fair share of bad political weather since winning the 2022 election. A failed Voice referendum, a dozen interest rate rises before one miserly cut last month. And he’s also had to deal with declining personal support and a drop in Labor’s primary vote, according to the polls.
But the effects of the cyclone can’t be blamed on Albo. They are events he quite obviously can’t control.
One of the advantages incumbent PMs enjoy is deciding when to call elections to maximise their party’s advantage. Howard was a master of it. Albo might have lost some of that incumbency edge.
However, the cyclone and the clean-up to follow gives the PM a chance to roll his sleeves up and help out, showing voters that he’s a true ‘man of the people’.
And of course he’ll announce all manner of federally funded assistance for victims of the bad weather.
As the UK’s most famous PM, Winston Churchill, once said: ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste.’
