“I like fighting Tories. That’s what I do,” said Anthony Albanese as he conceded Australian Labor Party (ALP) leadership to Bill Shorten, from the party’s right.

Some six years later, Shorten lost the un-losable election and Albanese — from the left — gently collected the dropped reins. At the press conference, he promised to fight Scott Morrison in a “vigorous fashion.”

Very few would use this word to describe Albanese’s performance thus far. Instead, Albanese has been defending coal exports, even while Sydney was blanketed in smoke. In the aftermath of the Christmas bushfires, even Coalition voters are turning against coal mining. But Albanese has remained on message, applauding the Adani mine and repeating the lie that it will create thousands of jobs.