View from The Hill: Albanese plays ‘captain’s pick’ to maximise Labor’s election prospects in Tasmania

By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Anthony Albanese prides himself on his eye for a good candidate.

In 2020, when he was opposition leader, he drafted Kristy McBain to run for a byelection in the marginal NSW seat of Eden-Monaro. If Labor had lost the seat, Albanese’s leadership could have been in trouble. McBain, now a junior minister in his government, won narrowly.

In the 2022 election, he made a captain’s pick in the Western Australian seat of Pearce with candidate Tracey Roberts, who wrested the seat from the Liberals.

Now Albanese is playing godfather again, hoping that in Tasmania a clever…

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