Albanese finishes the year at the Lodge, will he finish 2024 there?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, since his election, was busy running the Voice referendum as and when he was not jet-lagged from his trips overseas.

And his Ministers seemed to have been 'subbies' of a framework (of government) set to autopilot. Releasing 145 plus detainees from detention when ordered to release only one (NZYQ) and then having to re-arrest some of them within days, speaks volumes of how his government runs.

That brings us to the question of what's in store for Anthony Albanese. Will he lead his party to the next election?

I have serious doubts. I believe he would rather move on (whether nudged or on his own) than losing an election as a leader.

And it may not be bad for the Labor party.

If the opinion polls are any indication, and the Voice referendum loss is anything to go by, Anthony Albanese leading at the next election could be catastrophic.

The primary vote for Labor being the lowest, the party would have to be led by someone else if it wants to save the jobs of many of its backbenchers.

That begs the question – will the person in waiting rise to the occasion or maintain the decency of the party discipline only leaving those backbenchers in the lurch?

That brings us to another question – who is the heir apparent to Anthony Albanese? Is it Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles or Minister for Government Services and for the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill Shorten?

Although Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is a good performer and enjoys the 'Acting PM' role as and when given, in my view, Australians see Bill Shorten as the real heir apparent.

It remains to be seen if Bill Shorten chooses the 'decency' of Peter Costello (who never challenged for the job) or follows Paul Keating who claimed what he thought was his, when Bob Hawke wanted to keep hanging on to it as the Prime Minister.

Those who analyzed the Voice results (Labor minders included) saw that Prime Minister Albanese could not connect with people beyond the social media influencers' metro bubbles. Supporters of Bill and many Labor insiders believe Bill's reach is far greater and deeper.