Campbell,who was the right-hand man to former British Labour Party prime minister Tony Blair and hosts the chart-toppingThe Rest Is Politics podcast,is touring Australia,where he will speak at public events and meet state premiers Jacinta Allan,Chris Minns and Peter Malinauskas.
In an interview,the influential political commentator lamented the,said Australia’s made governing more difficult,praised and argued that former prime minister had similarities to former United States and British leaders Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
Referencing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s campaigning on immigration,border protection and a “ute tax”,Campbell said Labor’s win in the seat pointed to a rejection of divisive politics.
“I think maybe they tried to go too hard on the stuff[Australian conservative] like to do in elections,” he said.
“But maybe the country’s just rejecting it and looking for something a bit calmer and a bit more straightforward and serious.”
Campbell said left-wing political parties should “allow the right to sort of pretend that the left is all about gender fluidity and all the other stuff”,while at the same time “remaining very,very focused on stuff that people really care about”.
He cited Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s question time ridiculing of the opposition’s campaign on fuel-efficiency standards,which it has dubbed a ute tax,as a good example of the political value of fighting back against conservative scare campaigns.
“You have to almost embrace the fact that you’re being attacked over it as a way of explaining why[conservatives] are doing it,and what the actual facts are,” he said.
Albanese,Campbell said,had the ingredients to become the first Labor leader to win two successive elections since Bob Hawke,encouraging him to “keep on doing what he’s doing”.
‘I don’t think Australia is America,and I don’t think Britain is America.’
Alastair Campbell
“From the people I’ve been talking to,the general sense I get is,you know,he’s doing pretty well – ‘yeah,I quite like him and I’m really not sure about the other guy’. That’s quite a good dynamic to be in at this stage of a first term,” Campbell said.
While Albanese should avoid being caught up in fights over wokeness,Campbell said no left-wing party should shun social justice issues purely to shield itself from trumped-up claims of virtue-signalling.
He said conservative politicians – including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,whose recent focus on Campbell said had harmed him politically – were inflaming culture wars instead of governing competently. But voters,he argued,were increasingly able to spot cynical campaigning after witnessing Trump for years.
“I don’t think Australia is America,and I don’t think Britain is America,” he said.
To avoid UK-style unrest over immigration levels,he said Labor should emphasise the rules-based nature of Australia’s migration system and the economic benefit of bringing people into the country.
On the Voice referendum,which was rejected by 60 per cent of voters in October,Campbell said Australia would not suffer long-term reputational damage,.
“I don’t think it was ultimately damaging,but I think he could have been unbelievably positive,” he said.
“I just thought it was such a great thing to start your first term with a big national symbol. It doesn’t seem to me to have left too much of a shadow over Albanese as prime minister.”
A would be a good thing for Australia,Campbell said,because a decade of Tory rule had left Britain a diminished force.
“It’s very hard to see the Tories coming back from where they are. I do think there’s a landslide they’re taking,but I don’t think it’s there yet,” he said.
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