Labor leadership race: the differences between Shorten and Albanese

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/24/labor-party-leadership-candidate-differences

Version 0 of 1.

The two men vying for the Labor leadership are determined the party's experiment in opening decision making to its membership will not descend into nastiness or division.

They both say they share a similar "progressive" political vision and are not separated by any great differences in ideology.

An Essential poll this week could not separate them in voter popularity – finding that Tony Abbott was preferred to Anthony Albanese as prime minister by 37% to 31% and to Bill Shorten by 37% to 32%.

In fact, the candidates are running such civilised campaigns it might be difficult for the 43,000 party members who are now receiving their ballot papers to spot the differences between them. But if you read between the lines, they are there. Here are five.

1. Experience v the 'long haul'

Shorten entered parliament in 2007. He was promoted quickly, immediately becoming a parliamentary secretary and then a minister; when Labor lost he had been in the cabinet for less than two years.

The Shorten camp presents this as a positive, saying their man is in it "for the long haul" – the unspoken implication being that Albanese might not be. It was widely known within the ALP that after the election, when Albanese was weighing his leadership bid, he was also considering the option of moving to the backbench.

Albanese entered parliament in 1996, becoming a shadow parliamentary secretary in 1998 and a shadow minister in 2001. He was in cabinet for all of Labor's six years in government. Albanese's supporters emphasise that, unlike Shorten, he has experience of the tough years in opposition and extensive experience in government, including in the battle of parliamentary debate and tactics as leader of the government in the House of Representatives.

2. Different paths to their leadership bids

Shorten has been touted as a future Labor prime minister since he was a union leader in his early 30s, and has not discouraged the speculation. As Albanese said on Insiders last weekend, he only started contemplating the possibility of leading Labor over the past few weeks.

"Until very recently I didn't harbour ambitions to be leader," he said. "Towards the end of the campaign people started approaching me. I dismissed those approaches because I wanted to concentrate each and every day on maximising the Labor vote on September 7.

"So after September 7 I gave it some thought. I had to be very clear that it was something I wanted to do. I had to be clear in my own mind also that I believed it was in the best interests of the Labor party for me to put myself forward for the leadership."

3. Different styles

Shorten's supporters argue that he can "connect with middle Australia" and that he has "broad appeal", the unspoken comparison being that "Albo" is a bit too inner-city left.

Albanese's supporters argue that their candidate is "authentic Labor", different from the standard "Labor machine man". They say that with their candidate, "what you see is what you get".

This is apparently a reference to Shorten's history as a union leader and his factional role in the Victorian right in the ousting of Kevin Rudd and then Julia Gillard. This ignores the fact that Albanese also plays a powerful role in the left-wing faction and was also assistant general secretary of the NSW Labor party before he entered politics.

4. Different policy credentials

Shorten wins cross-factional credit for his advocacy of the national disability insurance scheme and Albanese for his years of ministerial work on road and rail infrastructure, but Albanese's backers are a little sceptical of the stances Shorten has taken during the leadership campaign.

Both candidates argue that Labor should oppose the repeal of the carbon pricing scheme, but Shorten backers initially argued the Abbott's repeal legislation should be waved through.

Both men also argue that Labor made a mistake in government when it cut welfare payments for single mothers, but Albanese's backers point out that Shorten was the minister who presided over those changes. (In January, thousands of single mothers were moved off parenting payments and on to unemployment benefits, leaving many up to $100 a week worse off but saving the government $728m over four years.)

Shorten has also promised uniform national rules on domestic violence and has said that as opposition leader he would take personal responsibility for science and innovation, contrasting with Abbott's decision not to include science in the portfolio name of any of his ministers.

5. Different slogans

Albanese's is "Vision. Unity. Strength." Shorten's is: "Party. Policy. People."

Tuesday night's debate in Sydney is the first of three, with another to be held in Melbourne on Friday and a third on ABC's Q&A programme on Monday night.

More than 43,000 Labor members across Australia are eligible to vote in the leadership ballot, which will be equally weighted with a poll of federal caucus members on October 10. Shorten is counting on a clear majority of the caucus – especially after the right "locked-in" its members.

Albanese is considered likely to win a majority of the grassroots vote, but the right is running an energetic campaign to convince the party membership of Shorten's leadership merits.

The caucus members will not know the result of the grassroots ballot when they vote. The final result will be announced on October 13.

Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.