No-tie Albo wins early strategy moves on election campaign trail

And like any good political fighter, strategy matters almost as much as the punches you land.

Which is why Albanese’s decision to call the election last Friday gives you an insight into the inner workings of an election campaign, and the desperation involved to get any perceived advantage.

Friday morning visits to Government House – a journey about theatrics more than anything else – are somewhat rare.

Scott Morrison made the drive on a Sunday back in 2022, as did Malcolm Turnbull in 2016 and Kevin Rudd before that in 2013.

And while Morrison did choose a Thursday to visit the Governor-General in 2019, the tradition of calling the election on a Sunday has generally been upheld – it’s a clean start to a new week, and some handy leaks to the Sunday papers are usually thrown in.

This year though, a Friday drive and a social media “leak” gave Albanese an opportunity to silence Peter Dutton from afar.

In the hours before Dutton was due to deliver his Budget Reply on Thursday night, a post from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was posted – and quickly deleted – suggesting that the Government was in caretaker mode.

A legitimate mistake, apparently.

Mistake or not, it took the air out of the lead-up to Dutton’s big final pre-election pitch. Instead of the focus being on Dutton’s response to Labor’s “election Budget”, all of the talk became about a possible trip to Government House on Friday by Albanese to call the election.

But with more people likely watching a ‘Law and Order’ re-run somewhere than tuning into Dutton’s big plan, it was only part of the strategy.

The next step was ensuring the election was called as early as possible on the Friday.

And so the morning breakfast shows on television, radio programs and online outlets all focused on Albanese’s movements instead of Dutton’s Budget Reply. Dutton struggled for air, on a morning he usually would have dominated the traditionally quiet Friday morning news rundowns.

It was a campaign master stroke – and it put Albanese immediately on the front foot. It would have rattled and frustrated the Dutton camp, with their last real chance for speaking to the Australian public out of campaign mode taken from them with some swift scheduling and smart chess moves.

For those who doubted Albanese was up for this campaign, who thought perhaps he’d run out of puff after 12 months struggling to match the impact of his first two years as Prime Minister, it was a sign of just how much fight is left in the man at the top.

Dutton will land his own blows through this campaign, of course, and nobody is suggesting this was a knockout punch – but it was certainly a win in the mind game stakes, right as both fighters prepared to enter the ring.

And while we’re on it – another piece of strategy I’ve noticed, all involving a tie.

As Dutton made his way through western Sydney on Sunday, he was dressed just as you’d perhaps expect – full suit and a tie.

But Albanese, back in Canberra, was enjoying breakfast with an Italian grandmother and her family – with an open collar and no tie.

This had been the case a day earlier as well – Dutton enjoying a beer at the XXXX factory in Queensland with a tie strangling his neck, while Albo tucked into a ginger beer at Bundaberg Brewery on the same day, again with no tie.

Has Labor decided that when it’s appropriate, they need to present Albo as a laid back Aussie who isn’t taking things too seriously? The antidote to Dutton, who is claiming everything is collapsing around us?

I’ve noticed this because I remember a conversation I had with a Liberal MP a year or so ago who suggested that he thought Dutton was a chance of winning the 2025 election, but if it were up to him, “I’d be telling him to lose the tie”.

The idea being that Dutton appeared to stuffy, too stereotypical and not ‘down with the people’ enough.

Intriguing then that Dutton has rocked a tie even on casual appearances during the first week of the campaign, where when possible, Albanese took a different approach.

Forget about ties, I hear you say, what about policies?

Let’s be real – this first week of the campaign is hardly policy-driven. Instead, it sets up what the tone and nature of the campaign will be – and I dare say that Albanese has appeared the most comfortable so far, certainly the most strategic, and without question a little more prepared.

There were question marks over his energy levels ahead of this campaign – but he’s brushed them aside right away.

If anything it is Dutton who has appeared somewhat slow out of the blocks.