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Australia re-elects Anthony Albanese’s Labor with a thumping majority

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Donald Trump won another election…for the centre left.

First there was Canada with Prime Minister Mark Carney from the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada and now in Prime Minister Australia Anthony’s Australian Labor Party had won a second term with a huge swing to it and a thumping majority right across Australia from coast to coast and from Darwin to the southern tip of Tasmania.

Amazingly both the Liberal Party of Canada and Australian Labor were staring down the barrel of defeat later last year according to opinion polls, but both turned their fortunes around.

The Canada Liberals by switching leaders from Justin Trudeau to Mark Carney and Australian Labor by just slogging it out. But the election of Donald Trump and the tariff war allowed both Prime Minster Carney and Albanese the chance to present a stable government in a geo-political environment of uncertainty and turbulence, especially in the case of Canada with President Trump’s talk of a 51st state.

Mark Carney just had to wrap himself in the Maple Leaf in appeal to Canadian patriotism whilst presenting himself as a former Central Banker and professional economist who could manage global uncertainty and a trade war with Washington. Similarly, Anthony Albanese appealed to Australian values and openness to the world, as well as the security of the nation’s social safety net, with Australia’s universal medical scheme, Medicare and system of strong wages and conditions central to the campaign.

In both Canada and Australia, the conservative oppositions were leading in the polls (the Conservatives in Canada by over 20 points) but were wrong footed by the influence of Donald Trump, not sure whether to try some of the same tactics from the Trump MAGA playbook, or distance themselves from his administration as the tariff confusion spooked markets and the treatment of the Ukraine President  Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House by President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, appalled even conservative voters. Canadian Opposition leader  Pierre Poilievre, who doing well against an unpopular 9-year Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, tried to paint political newcomer Mark Carney as a globalist more comfortable in Switzerland than Saskatoon, but Carney threw the switch to vaudeville enlisting Mike Myers and a number of Canadian celebrities to run a patriotic and successful campaign.

Wrong footed

The Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who was matching Anthony Albanese late last year, was wrong footed once the election was called, performed poorly, and not helped by new that Trump campaign operatives were ‘helping’ the Liberal National Coalition. Like Pierre Poilievre, Peter Dutton lost his own seat, a historical first for an Opposition Leader, and will quit politics.

But whilst Mark Carney won  minority government for the Liberals, Anthony Albanese won an increased majority for Labor who had just scraped over the line in 2022, to win government from an unpopular Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The Albanese win was historic on a number of counts.

First, Albanese is the first incumbent Prime Minister since John Howard to be elected for a second term after several years of revolving door Prime Ministers.

Second, Albanese is the first incumber Labor Prime Minister to win a second term since the legendary Bob Hawke did it in 1984.

Third, Albanese is the first Labor Prime Minister to increase his majority after being elected once already. War time Prime Minister and Labor hero John Curtin increased his majority in 1946, but had been made PM on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Fourth, the Liberal National Party (LNP) coalition were electorally decimated in Australia’s capital cities, and now hold mainly rural seats. The metropolitan Liberals have failed to win back any affluent urban seats from the ‘Teals’ a group of high profile wealthy independent candidates financed by Simon Holmes a Court, in support of climate change action. The coalition did particularly badly with the younger cohort of voters, and Labor ran a number of successful female community-based candidates, especially in Queensland.

Fifth, the election saw the demise of the Greens Party, who declared this was an election on ‘Gaza’ and hardly mentioned the environment at all. Their hostility to the Jewish community lost them votes in inner Sydney and Melbourne and their leader Adam Bandt may lose the seat of Melbourne to Labor.

What’s next?

So’s what next for the new Albanese Government?

First, there is good news on trade. The tariff monkey is off their back, thanks to the failed tariff policies of Xi Jin Ping and Donald Trump, so they can pursue policies on industry innovation and skill formation, without worrying about calls from the left or populist right for a return to tariffs.

Second, having started down China and USA on trade, they can pursue agreements and architecture with ASEAN, India, friends in North East Asia like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, emerging markets on the Middle East and Africa and Latin America, and now even the European Union is open to possibilities. There will be also closer ties with like minded partners in the UK, New Zealand, Canada and near neighbours in the Pacific.

Third, as mentioned by the re-elected Treasurer,  Dr ‘Sunny Jim’ Chalmers, Labor can now look at productivity measurers to help raise living standards. And Labor can also explain the importance of productivity in terms of skills, exports, investment and opportunity, not as a draconian agenda. Peter Dutton learnt that the hard way in attacking working from home (WFH), which may actually be having a positive impact on national productivity as well as on work-family life balance.\

Finally, Labor can now pursue policies on housing, climate innovation, and immigration without relying on green support, so won’t be undermined for pushed into unrealistic positions.

For the LNP, there will be an immediate review of all policies, the campaign and the search for a new leader given Peter Dutton will no longer be in parliament. The front runners seem to be Andrew Hastie, Angus Taylor, Dan Tehan, Jane Hume and Sussan Ley. But they better make the review snappy as we will be back to the polls again in 2028 as Australian federal elections are held every 3 years.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, is now in the Parthenon of Australian  Labor heroes with Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke and Keating. He has a great opportunity to drive Australian economic prosperity and fairness for a second term and beyond.

And now, he can send a big thank you card to the White House, that can be placed next to one from Mark Carney.

*Professor Tim Harcourt is Chief Economist of the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and host of The Airport Economist channel: https://tickernews.co/shows/airporteconomist/

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Are business schools priming students for a world that no longer exists?

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Are business schools priming students for a world that no longer exists?

Carla Liuzzo, Queensland University of Technology and Mimi Tsai, Queensland University of Technology

Endless economic expansion isn’t sustainable. Scientists are telling us our planet is already beyond its limits, with the risks to communities and the economy made clear in the federal government’s recent climate risk assessment.

Sustainability is a hot topic in Australian business schools. However, teaching about the possible need to limit economic growth – whether directly or indirectly related to sustainability – is uncommon.

Typically, business school teaching is based on concepts of sustainable development and “green growth”.
Under these scenarios, we can continue to grow gross domestic product (GDP) globally without continuing to grow emissions – what is known as “decoupling”. It’s a “have your cake and eat it too” promise for sustainability.

Our new research published in the journal Futures shows business students themselves are interested in learning the skills they would need under an alternative post-growth future.

Emerging alternatives to ‘growth is good’

There is mounting evidence of the difficulty of “decoupling” economic growth from emissions growth. The United Nations goals of sustainable development are “in peril”.

This has led to increased interest in no-growth or post-growth economic models and to the movement towards degrowth. Degrowth means shrinking economic production to use less of the world’s resources and avoid climate crisis.

Explicit teaching of degrowth rejects the belief in endless growth. This presents a challenge to traditional concepts in business education, including profit maximisation, competition and the notion of “free markets”.

The issue, and one that degrowth invites students to consider, is that green growth and sustainable development are underpinned by the need for continued economic growth and development. This “growth obsession” is pushing the planet and society to its limits.

Students are keen

Our new study provides a snapshot of students’ interest in alternative systems. It reveals 90% of respondents are open to learning about different economic models.

The study found 96% of students believe business leaders must understand alternative models to continued economic growth. Yet only 15% were aware of any alternatives that may exist. Most (71%) believed viable alternatives exist, but they admitted to lacking sufficient knowledge.

The study had 61 participants currently studying a masters of business administration (MBA) in a top Australian institution.

The research raises the question: if future business leaders are not made aware of alternatives, won’t they continue to assume growth is “inherently good”, and perpetuate the business practices that have pushed humanity beyond planetary boundaries?

The trouble with endless growth

Advocates of the “beyond growth” agenda argue endless growth is not possible. They promote alternate measures of progress to GDP, such as the recent Measuring What Matters report.

Degrowth proposes scaling back the consumption of resources as part of a transition to post-growth economies. Their aim is what economist Tim Jackson calls prosperity without growth. This entails businesses sharing value with communities, and reducing production of things like fast fashion, fast food and fast tech.

It is a rejection of maximising profit in favour of maximising value, based around meeting real needs like housing, food and essential services. Some industries would grow, such as care, education, public transport and renewables. Others may shrink or vanish.

Degrowth and post-growth aren’t alien concepts. There are grassroots movements such as minimalism. Social media abounds with lists of “things I no longer buy”, social enterprises, the right-to-repair movement and community-supported agriculture.

Degrowth also invites students to debate concepts like modern monetary theory, income ratio limits and universal basic income.

The role of business schools

Business schools are doing great work teaching students about changing consumer preferences for green alternatives, new global standards for reporting environmental and social impact, and ways businesses can reduce their environmental impact.

The Australian Business Deans Council in March this year detailed these efforts in its Climate Capabilities Report. This highlighted the need for business schools to produce graduates capable of “balancing business and climate knowledge”.

Our study of Australian business school students shows they are open to learning about degrowth. It challenges the assumption that ideas critical of endless growth would be unwelcome in business schools in Australia.

There is an argument for making explicit degrowth teaching in business schools more accessible because business schools have been criticised for not doing enough to address climate change and social inequality.

Globally, degrowth is starting to be taught explicitly in business schools in Europe, the UK and even the US.

Business schools have long been criticised for a culture of greed and cutthroat competition. As one distinguished professor from the University of Michigan recently put it, “today’s business schools were designed for a world that no longer exists”.

The introduction of no growth or degrowth scenarios to business schools in Australia may go some way to ensuring they are preparing leaders for the future – not priming students for a world that no longer exists.The Conversation

Carla Liuzzo, Lecturer, Graduate School of Business, Queensland University of Technology and Mimi Tsai, Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Taller, leaner, faster: the evolution of the ‘perfect’ AFL body

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Hunter Bennett, University of South Australia

Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield wowed the AFL world during last week’s preliminary final win against Hawthorn, pushing his 35-year-old body to the limit to propel his team into this year’s Grand Final.

At an age when most AFL players have retired or are slowing down, Dangerfield showcased his immense physical attributes, even prompting Hawks coach Sam Mitchell to plead: “I’m certainly ready for Dangerfield to retire.”

Now Dangerfield and his Geelong teammates will take on Brisbane for the AFL premiership in a battle between the 2022 and 2024 winners, respectively.

It has taken these athletes more than 10 months of intense training and preparation to get there. They are finely tuned machines, built to meet the rigorous demands of elite Australian rules football.

But what exactly constitutes the “perfect” AFL body? And what qualities does an AFL athlete need to succeed?

The physical demands of AFL

Australian football is an intermittent contact sport made up of frequent bursts of high-intensity activity (such as sprinting, jumping and tackling) separated by brief periods of low-intensity activity (such as standing, walking and jogging).

With this in mind, it requires players to excel in multiple physical domains to be successful:

  • Aerobic fitness: research indicates the average AFL player covers around 13 kilometres during a match, with some players even getting close to 19km. As a result, having high aerobic fitness (the ability use oxygen to create energy for physical activity) is integral to ensure they can both cover these vast distances and maintain a high level of performance
  • Repeated sprint ability: in conjunction with the ability to run for a long time, AFL athletes also need to be able to perform repeated sprints without fatiguing and losing speed – something known as “repeated sprint ability”. This is what ensures they stay fast and powerful in the latter parts of games
  • Strength: AFL is a contested sport. Players need upper and lower body strength to lay tackles, stay strong in marking contests and hold their position under contact. To illustrate this, some older research indicates the average AFL player can bench press about 125 kilograms, although there are anecdotal reports of larger players benching more than 170kg
Athletes from all AFL clubs need to do serious gym work to add strength, power and more.

Power: in conjunction with brute strength, AFL athletes also need to be explosive. This is what allows them to jump high to take a mark or make a spoil, and is a defining characteristic of elite AFL athletes. Current Greater Western Sydney player Leek Aleer holds the record for the largest running jump height in the AFL, with a whopping 107 centimetres.

Speed and agility: being able to change direction and accelerate rapidly are essential for evading opponents and creating scoring opportunities. These are often considered to be some of the most important AFL attributes. In fact, some research suggests faster players are significantly more likely to get drafted than slower players.

Decision making: AFL athletes also need to be able to make good decisions when the ball is in their hands. Making good split-second decisions allows their team to maintain possession, which can have a major influence on the outcome of a game.

Evolution of the AFL athlete

Research on the fitness of elite AFL athletes is sparse (understandably so – clubs might want to keep this information private as a competitive edge).

But we do know the physical profile of the typical AFL player has evolved dramatically over time.

Historically, players were often shorter and stockier, with an average height of around 180cm in the 1940s, and then around 184cm in the 1990s.

However, there has been a noticeable shift over the past 30 years towards taller, leaner athletes. The average height of the modern-day player is currently edging closer to 190cm, with a notable number of key position players exceeding 200cm.

We have also seen the running demands of the game increase. Over the past 20 years, the total distance athletes are travelling has increased. They are also accelerating more often and spending more time running at faster speeds.

This change has been somewhat reflected in the athletic profiles of the elite young players hoping to get drafted, with a consistent increase in the aerobic fitness of draftees over the past 20 years.

AFL preseasons can last for five months and can push athletes to their limits.

Interestingly, it has been suggested this change may largely be the result of changes in game style, where teams are adopting a less contested, faster, more free-flowing game style.

Indeed, this is something we have seen happen in the AFLW over the past few seasons, which reinforces this suggestion.

The ideal AFL body depends on the player’s position

With all this in mind, it’s important to note it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to AFL athletes.

Different positions will have different requirements.

For example, you can expect midfielders to be fitter, more agile and physically smaller than full forwards and full backs. Conversely, you can almost guarantee key forwards and defenders will be bigger and stronger than midfielders.

The modern AFL athlete is a product of years of specific training and a deep understanding of the game’s evolving demands – and the Grand Final is the best opportunity to observe it all come to fruition.

And as the game continues to evolve, so will the ideal physical profile of its athletes.The Conversation

Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The Optus brand is in tatters. How can it even begin to rebuild customers’ trust?

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The Optus brand is in tatters. How can it even begin to rebuild customers’ trust?

Cassandra France, The University of Queensland and Amanda Spry, RMIT University

Optus finds itself in a perilous situation once again. Last week’s 13-hour Triple Zero network outage left about 480 customers unable to call for emergency help. Three deaths linked to the outage are being investigated.

That outage wasn’t an isolated incident for Optus. Just this week, the Federal Court imposed a A$100 million penalty on the telco for “unconscionable conduct” involving predatory sales tactics toward customers in vulnerable situations, which went on for years.

Both those crises come on the back of a 2022 data breach and a 2023 major network outage, which also affected Triple Zero calls. Optus vowed then to “ensure it will not happen again”.

These repeated failures signal serious problems within, and for, Optus. As its chief executive Stephen Rue was repeatedly asked this week – how can Optus regain customers’ trust?

Building trust before the crisis

To shore up a brand against damage from potential crises, companies should proactively build a reservoir of goodwill with their customers and the wider public.

By engaging consumers in positive brand actions, such as genuine corporate social responsibility, brands can build a halo that buffers the brand during times of crisis.

Indeed, Optus spent decades cultivating a strong identity as a trusted, community-minded brand. This is exemplified by its long-running “Yes” tagline, which has been central to shaping an approachable and people-centred image, making it more than a faceless utilities provider.

An aerial view of Perth's Optus Stadium.
There have been calls to strip Optus of its naming rights to the Perth stadium.
Harrison Reilly/Unsplash, CC BY-NC

Optus has embedded its brand into Australia’s cultural life through sponsorship of major sporting events, from the Australian Open tennis to the naming rights to Perth’s Optus Stadium.

Yet, this image has been chipped away over recent years. In 2022, Optus experienced what has been deemed a “preventable” data hack, which leaked 9.5 million consumers’ private information. In 2024, Optus was the most distrusted brand in Australia, according to Roy Morgan. But it managed some improvement in 2025, moving to the 4th most distrusted brand – though that was before this latest outage.

The recurrence of crises for Optus, year after year, dismantles the accumulated brand image and intensifies negative responses from a range of stakeholders.

How to respond during a crisis

Effective brand response to a crisis is dependent on the nature of the crisis itself, meaning that there is no one single strategy suited to all circumstances. In the case of Optus, we see an incredibly severe case of harm arising from failures to deliver on a telecommunications company’s key purpose: making phone calls.

Previously, Optus has proudly shared stories of how they keep “the community connected” and provide “the backing of a strong network”.

Yet these recent events undermine these claims and demonstrate process and performance deficiencies which can be incredibly difficult to recover from, especially in light of the severity of consequences for some customers.

So far, Optus’ crisis response has shown it understands the importance of owning their accountability and expressing remorse for what happened as a consequence of its mistakes. (Though some have questioned why it took Singapore-based parent company Singtel nearly a week to issue its own “deeply sorry” statement.)

But taking responsibility is the only first step in the process. It also requires real commitment and action to effect change and avoid recurrence.

Optus are taking steps, announcing an independent review, which it says will be made public. But as governance expert Helen Bird pointed out this week, the company promised the same thing about its November 2023 Triple Zero outage – but didn’t follow through.

Even if it’s different this time, with experienced business and government leader Kerry Schott conducting the new investigation, Optus still needs to follow through with clear actions and real evidence of change.

How can Optus start to rebuild?

Brands can take many years to recover from major crises. The ongoing nature of crises at Optus make that road to recovery even more challenging. Yet, if Optus and its parent company Singtel are committed, there are certainly many actions they can pursue.

For Optus, transparency in action will be critical.

Optus needs to show not just accountability for failure but corrective action for resolution.

It cannot correct the dire consequences of its multiple previous missteps. But the company can seek to avoid repeating those mistakes again.

As others have pointed out, there are measurable ways to judge Optus’ ongoing response – which could involve the federal communications minister imposing new conditions on Optus’ licence to operate.

Beyond the immediate investigations and responses to the latest Triple Zero outage, Optus could also reinvest in winning back public goodwill, such as potentially exploring opportunities to donate and support emergency services and local communities.

Importantly, these cannot be simple, short-term fixes, but must involve long-term commitments.

Through frequent, public progress updates and evidence of investment in action which leads to substantiated outcomes, the brand may be able to rebuild some of the damage done to Australians’ trust – especially its customers’.The Conversation

Cassandra France, Lecturer in Marketing, The University of Queensland and Amanda Spry, Senior Lecturer of Marketing, RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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