The secrets of Albo’s massive election win REVEALED: PM’s ‘quiet genius’ details five reasons Labor won

Labor’s election mastermind has revealed the five key areas that enabled Anthony Albanese to achieve a landslide win. 

Paul Erickson, the ALP’s National Secretary, told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday that the Prime Minister’s performance was key to clinching such a resounding victory.  

‘From the first Monday of January through to election day, the Prime Minister was in the form of a lifetime,’ Erickson said.

‘Originally, I wrote here that the PM didn’t put a foot wrong,’ he added – in a reference to the PM falling off a stage during the campaign – to roars of laughter from the gathered journalists and political figures.

‘But this would have summoned the Coalition’s media cheer squad to interview the stage from the Mining and Energy conference up in Newcastle as part of a feature on Labor lies. 

‘So instead, I will argue that at a presentational level, the Prime Minister’s campaigning was exemplary.’

Albanese was in attendance to hear the gag about his infamous stumble at the start of the campaign. 

Erickson, who has been described as a ‘quiet genius’, contrasted Albanese’s sunny optimism with the Coalition’s negative campaigning – and Peter Dutton’s lacklustre performance in particular. 

‘Originally, I wrote here that the PM didn’t put a foot wrong,’ Erickson added to roars of laughter from the gathered journalists and political figures

‘Peter Dutton was gloomy about the country, downcast about the future, and most animated when magnifying the problems facing Australia,’ he added. 

He also credited Labor’s ‘Building Australia’s Future’ campaign and its central policies of tax cuts cutting HECS debt by 20 per cent, and its deposit scheme for first-home buyers for its election success.

Another factor, Erickson claimed, was Medicare.

‘There was no debate about our promise to restore bulk billing so that nine in ten GP visits are bulk billed by 2030,’ he added. 

But the campaign strategist  was critical of the Coalition’s decision to delay the announcement of policies until closer to election date. 

‘Peter Dutton’s campaign took this to be a extremes with less than two weeks to go on Insiders, Michael Sukkar said that the Coalition was saving up their policies so that they could, “Connect with Australians when they’re going to switch on”, Erickson said.

‘I remember watching that interview and thinking – you haven’t got long now, brother!’ 

Erickson said the fifth factor was Labor’s record on the economy.  

Erickson (pictured) also credited Labor’s ‘Building Australia’s Future’ campaign and its central policies of tax cuts cutting HECS debt by 20 per cent, and its deposit scheme for first-home buyers for its election success

‘In the campaign, we were able to point to that record and highlight the contrast with the decade of Coalition failure,’ he added. 

‘When Labor came to power, inflation was going up and real wages from going down. 

‘By election day, inflation was 2.4 per cent and real wages had grown five quarters in a row.

‘February’s rate cut crystallised confidence that the economy had turned the corner, and yesterday’s rate cut confirmed the progress that Australia is continuing to make.’

Meanwhile, Erickson was critical of the Coalition’s negative campaign and, to a smaller degree, its association with the Trump administration, which he said was borne out in their tracking polling.

‘The Coalition made more promises that they couldn’t afford by a margin of nine,’ he said.

‘And the Coalition ran the more negative campaign by a margin of 11 points. 

‘These results are the ultimate indictment of the Coalition’s closing focus on culture wars instead of cost of living.’

He branded Dutton’s campaign ‘strange’.

‘Was he focused on Australians who were looking for the party with the best plan to make them better off over the next three years?’ Erickson asked. 

‘Or was his priority winning over voters who were looking for an Australian variation on MAGA?’