The Boss sought my counsel this week on what Albo is up to, disfiguring his convincing return to government with an ugly political execution.
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He was disgusted by the brutal knifing of Mark Dreyfus KC, the former Attorney-General, who was ambushed after the election by the Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, the leader of his Victorian Right faction.
The Boss has met Mr Dreyfus over the years and thought him decent, principled and a steady hand.
At 68, Mr Dreyfus is getting on a bit but he’s the last remaining senior lawyer in the government ranks: having practiced as a barrister in constitutional, commercial and environmental law for 20 years, he brought the legal wisdom of the past to keep the government on track with the Constitution and laws of the land.
The son of composer Geroge Dreyfus, he was elected to parliament in 2007, became a minister in 2010 in the Gillard government and briefly served as Attorney General under Kevin Rudd before spending nine years in opposition as shadow Attorney. By the time Labor returned to government in 2022, he had plenty of experience to bring to the role. And he pressed on gamely after Deborah, his wife of 44 years, died from cancer in late 2023.
The Boss points out to me that during the election, Albo made much of the unity of his cabinet and the stability it had brought to government after seven changes of prime minister in the previous 15 years.
But a few days after the election, Mr Dreyfus had a phone call from his so-called mate from the Labor right faction telling him he’s out as Attornery General - earning Marles the title of “factional assassin.”
Photo by
LUKAS COCH
“This is nothing to do with merit, General,” The Boss tells me. “Here you have the most experienced legal mind in the government being replaced by a Labor party functionary nobody has ever heard of.”
Why wouldn’t the assassins warn him before the election, I wondered, to save Dreyfus from running? The Boss shook his head. “They would have planned it but couldn’t be sure if Labor would win - or by how much. They might have needed him. Now they don't. So Dreyfus has three years on the back bench to lick his wounds.”
The Boss reckons Albo could have stopped it. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating said the same thing: it has sullied Labor’s election win and he should have intervened.
Keating called it a display of poor judgement, unfairness and diminished respect for the contribution of others.
“So there goes Albo’s cabinet unity, General,” The Boss said. “Albo kept saying his kindness shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness - this shows he’s weak after all. Now he’s got a ministry boiling with anger and suspicion.”
But this is where I had to set The Boss straight. From a canny dog’s point of view, Albo isn’t weak at all - he’s clearly just ruthless. He’s thinking about whose support he needs in future to stay top dog for as long as possible - and he’ll sacrifice his old mates to do it.
Think about it: Marles is the rabid dog infecting the cabinet – at the same time, he has likely sidelined himself from any future challenge to Albo: after this brutal act, he’ll have so many enemies he’ll never get the numbers. Albo has figured that out too.
That’s what a top dog does: you get rid of rivals like Plibersek and Marles, and cut adrift anyone who is no use to you any more. But what would I know? I’m just a dog. Woof!
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