1 week Ago By Melanie La'Brooy
The first week of the federal election campaign is over and our collective sense of whelm is decidedly under. High (low?) lights included Peter Dutton declaring that if he’s elected, he’d prefer to live in Kirribilli House on Sydney Harbour rather than The Lodge in Canberra. This led to a swift reversal of policy as Dutton had previously said he was against public servants (he is one) choosing work-home arrangements that suit them best.
Anthony Albanese responded to Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs by saying that “...
serious governments engage government to government”. He neglected to add “except for when they engage golfer to golfer”, given that he’d dined with Trump’s golfing buddy, Greg Norman, in a last-ditch attempt to help Australia avoid the tariffs. (It failed.
) Voters are clearly not inspired by the leaders of the two major parties. It could be worse. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, James Brickwood The day after the dinner, Albanese fell off a stage.
Presumably he lost concentration while pondering the inanity of having to get Trump’s attention by enlisting a pro golfer to conduct critical trade negotiations, while simultaneously making a mental note to ask Margot Robbie to take the lead on future AUKUS discussions. Compare this sedate domestic scene to what was happening on the international political stage. US Senator Cory Booker finally gave Democrats something to cheer about as he stood and spoke for more than 25 hours on the Senate floor, in a compelling act of resistance against the Trump-Musk agenda.
Witnessing this, it was hard not to yearn for more exciting, inspirational political leaders. (Clive Palmer, if you’re thinking this describes you, then you’re as confused as the Heard Island penguins, who are wondering why they have to pay a 10 per cent tariff on non-existent exports to the US.) But what if the dullness of our prime ministerial candidates is something to celebrate, rather than bemoan? Perhaps if we accepted it and moved on, the spotlight could be allowed to shine on their policies instead of awkward footage of badly kicked footballs .
Albanese and Dutton’s lack of charisma might not be entirely their own fault either. It could be a byproduct of Australia’s glorious system of mandatory voting. Consider the US system, which requires presidential candidates to perform twin Herculean tasks.
First, they have to raise staggering amounts of money merely to run, and then they have to convince tens of millions of people to turn out to vote for them. Charisma isn’t an optional side-order in this scenario; it’s an essential requirement for getting the job. This system has produced numerous magnetic politicians, including JFK, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Trump.
While neither of the presidents Bush nor Joe Biden had oratorial brilliance or star power, at their best they could still project a sense of authenticity that enabled them to cut through with voters. The Philippines has a similar focus on celebrity-style appeal: their last presidential election was contested by a former movie star, a boxing legend and the ultimate winner who, as the son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, benefited from a surname that has household recognition across the country. (How that surname, which is associated with dictatorship and kleptocracy, was a political advantage is a mystery for another time.
) The pressure to radiate star power is considerably lessened when voter turnout is assured. This doesn’t mean that mandatory voting will always produce boring politicians. Like Australia, Argentina has a system of mandatory voting and is led by Elon Musk’s chainsaw-wielding inspo, Javier Milei, who can be called many things but dull is not one of them.
Milei has said that he was encouraged to run for president by his deceased dog , Conan, who spoke to him through a medium. He has an approval rating around the 40 per cent mark. Meanwhile, a recent poll showed Albanese with a performance rating of -11 per cent (up 11 points) and Dutton with a performance rating of -10 (down 5 points), which could be an indicator that Australian voters would like a bit more personality from both of them.
This does not, I repeat, not, translate to a plea to Albanese and Dutton to try to be relatable or funny on social media. In the name of Joe Biden and his disastrous 2024 Mama Kelce video, step away from TikTok. Rather than expecting Albanese and Dutton to change, perhaps we should adjust our expectations.
Wanting our politicians to have more appeal comes with the standard fairy-tale warning: be careful what you wish for. You might get Jacinda Arden or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but personality-driven politics has also given the world Silvio Berlusconi, Jair Bolsonaro and Boris Johnson. The UK eventually tired of Johnson and is now led by the vanilla custard of politicians, Keir Starmer, while Brazil threw out Bolsonaro to return to the relative normalcy of Lula da Silva.
What’s interesting about Starmer and da Silva is that what they lack in personality, they make up for in character. Character is about values, and it makes far more sense to focus on a politician’s character, rather than their personality. If you want to get a sense of our candidates’ characters, I suggest looking up the maiden speeches of both Albanese and Dutton .
Views can, of course, shift over time. But what drove them into politics in the first place is all there. Comparing their original impetus to what they’ve accomplished since is a far better metric of who they are than their ability to charm the electorate.
So if you’re feeling uninspired by the candidates vying to become our next prime minister, take a moment to be grateful. Without big personalities or chainsaws to distract us, the focus during this election campaign can shift to where it should rightly be: policies and character. Every democracy should be so lucky.
Melanie La’Brooy is an award-winning novelist who has lived in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and writes on politics and social justice issues. The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here .
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