Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used a media interview this week to boldly declare that if he wins the upcoming federal election he’ll serve a full term.
That would make him the oldest Prime Minister since John Howard lost the 2007 election.
Albo is about to turn 62, before the next election is due. That would make him 65 years of age, if he in fact did serve a full three year term.
But age aside, the real issue is that whether the PM gets to serve a full term or not really isn’t his decision.
Even if the recent purchase of a retirement home on the central coast – a $4.3m waterfront mansion – isn’t a portent of things planned, it’s Labor’s party room that will decide just how long Albo remains PM.
Assuming voters don’t take that decision out of their hands when they cast their ballots on election day.
And the disempowerment of Albo’s decision on his future doesn’t end there.
Even if Labor MPs think he’s the best person to stay in the top job, if as expected Labor is reduced to a minority government, it won’t be government MPs who have the biggest say about Albo’s longevity in The Lodge.
The crossbench will control the fate of the minority government and the PM.
More specifically, the Greens will.
More specifically still, their leader Adam Bandt will be the one deciding whether or not to allow Albo to retain the prime ministership.
Because if Bandt and his team decide a second term Labor government isn’t doing enough in the policy areas the Greens care most about, they can withdraw their support for Labor and force the minority government to the polls.
So when Albo sits down for a puff interview this side of the election, taking the opportunity to declare his intention to serve a full term, taking the pledge with a hefty supply of salt.
Because it’s not his decision.
Albo has been in the parliament since 1996. When he does leave he’ll be well provided for under the old, generous, parliamentary super scheme.
The same scheme he’s protected from other announced superannuation changes that increase the tax the rest of us are required to pay in retirement.
What’s good for the goose isn’t always good for the gander.
In fact the old parliamentary super scheme is so generous that in retirement Albo will earn more than he has at any time during his political career prior to becoming PM.
And once he hits 65 he’ll earn more than he does as PM, because he won’t have to pay tax on what he gets.
That’s got to make retirement enticing for a PM about to remarry and embark on a new life in a newly purchased residence.
It’s no wonder Labor MPs fighting to retain marginal seats are so angry with the way Albo has projected a ‘who cares’ attitude in recent months. Coming across like he already has one foot out of door of The Lodge.
That’s why his puff interview was necessary – to provide a reset to start this election year in an attempt to head off questions about his future.
While a re-elected Albo would become the oldest Aussie PM since Howard, he’s a relative spring chicken compared to the political class in other parts of the world.
Take the United States, for example. Outgoing President Joe Biden is 82-years-old and barely functional. Incoming President Donald Trump is already 78-years-old and about to get four more years in the White House.
Whether Albo wins the next election and serves a full term or not, there is one thing we can certainly be sure of.
He won’t match the ages of Biden and Trump during what’s left of his political career. By then he’ll hopefully be healthy and happy, ensconced in his waterside mansion at Copacabana, in retirement.
Perhaps a grumpy old man, somewhat frustrated by the eye sore of all those ugly cabanas littering the otherwise beautiful beach view below him.
