I want to take you back to election night 2022 when @Albomp stood up and, among his (as it turned out) hollow promises, swore to bring respect back to parliament. As we have witnessed over the past three years, he delivered the complete opposite of that.
Now, after his extremely long taxpayer-funded bludge following his win in May, we have been given the first opportunity to witness his commitment to respect this term. And it is on this point that Simon Benson has made a very astute observation, and one that hasn’t escaped me and others. And that relates to how Albanese intends to treat @sussanley. Remember Albo’s now infamous “smash her” statement from some years ago when referring to Sussan?
Albanese and Labor can’t treat Sussan the way they treated Peter Dutton. And he certainly couldn’t invoke the “smash her” tactic. Nor could they resort to the disrespectful labelling and attacks on her appearance as they did with Peter. If they did that to a female, they’d be hammered. So it appears Albanese, as Simon points out, is adopting Bob Carr tactics and treating Sussan as if she didn’t exist.
In QT this week, Albanese barely looked at his opponent across the chamber. He refused to address her on occasion as required and, when answering questions, turned his back to speak to his troops.
Albo wasn’t labelled the Marrickville Brawler for nothing. And Albo will keep up his dismissive charade unless starts to adopt some of the “Thatcher Tactics’.
Being better informed and tougher than them
Using authority, not apology
Turning their condescension into political strength
Dominating with preparation, poise, and conviction
Thatcher out-prepared everyone in the room. She knew the figures better than anyone, and she used that to devastating effect.
She had voice coaching to lower her voice to sound more authoritative. Her delivery was very deliberate, firm and on point.
When dismissed as “just a housewife,” she used it to her advantage. She framed herself as a practical, no-nonsense economic manager — someone who balanced budgets and made tough decisions, just like a household must. Albo has never balanced a budget in his life!!
Thatcher was not afraid to challenge men directly, even those who tried to patronise or bully her. She often interrupted or corrected senior male colleagues if they were wrong. This will be harder to do given the Speaker patronises Sussan as well, but she could use the media to better effect.
Thatcher rarely emphasised her role as a “woman in power” and rejected modern feminism, preferring to be seen as a leader, not a female leader. This helped her navigate spaces where overt gender solidarity might have backfired. This is where Sussan could introduce a real difference to great effect. Whilst I love pink, she needs to drop the pink and white pants suits. Those who study the art of colour know that people treat you differently if you wear pink when taking issues head on.
Conviction. Come out strong in support of biological women and against child gender experimentation. Drop NetZero and stand firmly behind nuclear. So many opportunities to differentiate and stop asking everyone for their opinion.
Leaders determine what needs to be done, select the best people to deliver on it and constantly remind those whose support you why it’s necessary.
Until Sussan adopts this, the Marrickville Brawler will continue to treat her as irrelevant.
