After its emphatic 2025 election victory, the Albanese Labor government entered the year with overwhelming parliamentary dominance and a clear mandate to govern boldly. On paper, it was a government with every advantage imaginable.
Yet despite this strength, Labor has continued to govern cautiously – reluctant to take risks, overly attached to bipartisanship with a fractured Coalition, and hesitant to translate power into decisive reform. In this episode, we examine the growing gap between authority and action, and the political myth that a government’s “second year” automatically delivers bold change.
Drawing on recent history and Labor’s own record so far, we ask whether 2026 will finally be the year of decisive reform – or whether Labor is waiting for a big bang that may never come.
Song listing:
‘La Femme d’Argent’, AIR.
Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP.
