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The Good Fight: What Does Labor Stand For?; Quarterly Essay 100
The 100th issue of Australia's leading agenda-setting journal of politics, culture and debate
In Quarterly Essay 100, Sean Kelly considers the enigma of the Albanese government. With wide yet shallow support, will it change the country? Does it have big ideas, or is it content just to become "the natural party of government"?
Kelly gives a definitive account of Albanese's political style and shows what lies behind it. In speaking to a fragmented, disengaged electorate, the Prime Minister places a high value on moderation. Often that means ducking fights with entrenched interests. But this runs the risk of embedding an ever more unequal society, led by a government that can seem gutless.
In this subtle and brilliant essay, Kelly explores whether Labor is still up for the good fight.
"Labor has cast itself as a version of what the conservatives once proud defenders of the status quo. This may well appeal to large numbers of Australians, as it did in this last election. [But] Labor's task, historically, has been to change things on behalf of those who desperately need them to change."—Sean Kelly, The Good Fight
In Quarterly Essay 100, Sean Kelly considers the enigma of the Albanese government. With wide yet shallow support, will it change the country? Does it have big ideas, or is it content just to become "the natural party of government"?
Kelly gives a definitive account of Albanese's political style and shows what lies behind it. In speaking to a fragmented, disengaged electorate, the Prime Minister places a high value on moderation. Often that means ducking fights with entrenched interests. But this runs the risk of embedding an ever more unequal society, led by a government that can seem gutless.
In this subtle and brilliant essay, Kelly explores whether Labor is still up for the good fight.
"Labor has cast itself as a version of what the conservatives once proud defenders of the status quo. This may well appeal to large numbers of Australians, as it did in this last election. [But] Labor's task, historically, has been to change things on behalf of those who desperately need them to change."—Sean Kelly, The Good Fight
110 pages, Paperback
Published November 17, 2025
26 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Sean Kelly
162 books7 followersKelly previously wrote From The Faculty Lounge - the story of London Central High School, the Department of Defense Dependents School which closed in 2007 (and also avaiable through Bayberry Books). The school had been located on the bases at Bushy Park, Bushey Hall and Daws Hill, High Wycombe.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 23, 2025
Labor staffer reads Quarterly Essay #100. Fork found in kitchen.
December 5, 2025
Is Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, re-elected this year in a landslide win for his centre-left Labor Party, playing a long game or is he enjoying power too much for its own sake to risk any political capital on badly needed, if electorally risk, policy change? That’s the central question is this thoughtful quarterly essay by Sean Kelly, a newspaper columnist, former Labor staffer and former adviser to Labor prime ministers.
As someone who once lived inside the bubble in Canberra, and who lived through the politically chaotic ‘killing season’ when Labor switched from Kevin Rudd as PM to Julia Gillard and back to Rudd again, Kelly is well acquainted with the risks of internal party instability and how the policy sausages are made. But he’s also particularly aware of the perennial question of legitimacy Labor must face every time it takes over the Treasury benches.
Beginning the essay with an examination of what constitutes political belief, Kelly looks at Albanese’s frequent statements about his own philosophical commitment to ‘fighting Tories’ and his dedication to the three pillars of his life in the ALP, the Catholic Church and the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team. In his opposition and backbench days, ‘Albo’ was known as a left-wing firebrand and passionate advocate for the working class.
These days, Kelly finds the man who has brought Australia’s oldest political party in from the wilderness appears to be frozen in the headlights, running a conservative agenda and cutting off any possibility of real change in any area that threatens the interests of Australia’s powerful asset rich - whether it be in reducing huge distortions in the housing market that have locked out an entire generation from home ownership, attacking the obscene inequality between funding of private versus public schools or addressing the distortions in superannuation that have turned it into a tax dodge for the already rich.
In this, Kelly draws a contrast between Albanese’s curious timidity and refusal to argue the case for change - preferring woolly-minded ‘consensus’ - and the ‘crazy brave’ approach of former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating, who believed that even if he personally failed to advance big picture reforms like turning Australia into a republic, finding our future in Asia, or seriously advancing Aboriginal reconciliation, he had at least put those items on the agenda.
Albanese had a go with the referendum to establish an Aboriginal Voice to parliament but after the solid electoral defeat of that attempt to amend the constitution he has played completely dead on that issue or any other significant reform.
Instead, his government is now running on the line that it will prevent any American-style changes to institutions like Medicare, when the fact is Australia has been running in the direction of US market individualism and extreme neoliberalism for decades.
“These are the opposite of promises to make things happen; they are, instead, promises to stop things from happening, to keep Australia as it is,” Kelly writes. “As others have noted, Labor has cast itself as a version of what the conservatives once were: the defender of the way things are.”
As someone who once lived inside the bubble in Canberra, and who lived through the politically chaotic ‘killing season’ when Labor switched from Kevin Rudd as PM to Julia Gillard and back to Rudd again, Kelly is well acquainted with the risks of internal party instability and how the policy sausages are made. But he’s also particularly aware of the perennial question of legitimacy Labor must face every time it takes over the Treasury benches.
Beginning the essay with an examination of what constitutes political belief, Kelly looks at Albanese’s frequent statements about his own philosophical commitment to ‘fighting Tories’ and his dedication to the three pillars of his life in the ALP, the Catholic Church and the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team. In his opposition and backbench days, ‘Albo’ was known as a left-wing firebrand and passionate advocate for the working class.
These days, Kelly finds the man who has brought Australia’s oldest political party in from the wilderness appears to be frozen in the headlights, running a conservative agenda and cutting off any possibility of real change in any area that threatens the interests of Australia’s powerful asset rich - whether it be in reducing huge distortions in the housing market that have locked out an entire generation from home ownership, attacking the obscene inequality between funding of private versus public schools or addressing the distortions in superannuation that have turned it into a tax dodge for the already rich.
In this, Kelly draws a contrast between Albanese’s curious timidity and refusal to argue the case for change - preferring woolly-minded ‘consensus’ - and the ‘crazy brave’ approach of former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating, who believed that even if he personally failed to advance big picture reforms like turning Australia into a republic, finding our future in Asia, or seriously advancing Aboriginal reconciliation, he had at least put those items on the agenda.
Albanese had a go with the referendum to establish an Aboriginal Voice to parliament but after the solid electoral defeat of that attempt to amend the constitution he has played completely dead on that issue or any other significant reform.
Instead, his government is now running on the line that it will prevent any American-style changes to institutions like Medicare, when the fact is Australia has been running in the direction of US market individualism and extreme neoliberalism for decades.
“These are the opposite of promises to make things happen; they are, instead, promises to stop things from happening, to keep Australia as it is,” Kelly writes. “As others have noted, Labor has cast itself as a version of what the conservatives once were: the defender of the way things are.”
December 4, 2025
Sean Kelly really digests Australian politics in a realistic, but optimistic, manner. It's always captivating to read his take on how modern politics is flowing and what rivulets it might create along its path.
This is a solid assessment of Albanese's current trajectory, making it an interesting companion to Katharine Murphy's Lone Wolf Quarterly Essay. Also curious is how Kelly, an ex-Labor staffer peers in at his old workplace - there's a great moment about opening a door and the thoughts he has while the door opens - while Murphy (who surely must have known she was heading to work there) was on her way to becoming Albo's press secretary.
Ultimately Kelly leans into the same theme he sees Albo leaning into: kindness. This then makes the close of this Quarterly more optimistic than I felt it warranted. But, that's also my criticism of Albo's leadership coming through, and less my admiration for Kelly's writing.
The picture he paints of this iteration Australian Labor Party is one of a political team who is afraid of failure and one who also makes decisions based on them not being in power. So, with that in mind, this Quarterly Essay feels like it's less an essay for the Quarterly faithful reader and more an essay for Anthony Albanese himself.
Here's hoping he's an avid and attentive reader then.
This is a solid assessment of Albanese's current trajectory, making it an interesting companion to Katharine Murphy's Lone Wolf Quarterly Essay. Also curious is how Kelly, an ex-Labor staffer peers in at his old workplace - there's a great moment about opening a door and the thoughts he has while the door opens - while Murphy (who surely must have known she was heading to work there) was on her way to becoming Albo's press secretary.
Ultimately Kelly leans into the same theme he sees Albo leaning into: kindness. This then makes the close of this Quarterly more optimistic than I felt it warranted. But, that's also my criticism of Albo's leadership coming through, and less my admiration for Kelly's writing.
The picture he paints of this iteration Australian Labor Party is one of a political team who is afraid of failure and one who also makes decisions based on them not being in power. So, with that in mind, this Quarterly Essay feels like it's less an essay for the Quarterly faithful reader and more an essay for Anthony Albanese himself.
Here's hoping he's an avid and attentive reader then.
December 27, 2025
A subtle, open-minded, and deeply considered exploration of what belief, if any, lies beneath Albanese’s government and Labor’s contemporary political project. At turns despairing, impatient, sympathetic and optimistic. The essay is at its most insightful when it is at its most vulnerable, when Kelly draws connections between his own journey to understanding his guiding beliefs and impulses and the journey of Labor in defining it’s own political ideology. Underneath it all is a subtle sense of momentum - we join Kelly as he feels his way towards an optimistic, perhaps naive, conviction that the good fight is ahead.
December 25, 2025
As someone who is, to put it charitably, frustrated with the slow rate of change in the Albanese government, you might assume that I would be a natural ally to Sean Kelly's thesis that Labor has forgotten how to dream big.
In many ways, I am. Kelly rightly points out that Labor in government has an air of timidity about them, afraid of offending or colliding with politically loadbearing interest groups. This is partly informed by their recent timultous history and partly by Albanese's desire to reshape Labor's position in the political landscape, but even with explanation it is getting more and more difficult to clearly articulate what a Labor government wants to actually do with its time in office. Other than winning the next election. There is nuance behind their approach, and I'm sure that if you talked to Albanese or Chalmers they would ask us to judge their ambitions in hindsight rather than at what they see as quarter time, but the disappointment remains nonetheless.
For the sake of brevity I will refrain pointing out all the places Kelly and I agree so this review might seem more negative than , but Economics is where Kelly and I diverge and where I think a significant problem with his vision presents itself. In Kelly's view, Labor has forgotten its progressive soul. It has ripped out its beating heart, the raucus redistributive Left, and sacrificed them at the altar of monied interests and electability. Kelly uses Keating, the politician with an Artist's genius, as the emblem of a Labor man who valued ideas that far exceeded the 'possible'. Keating often stated that all Hawke wanted to do was accumulate political capital, where he wanted to spend every last drop. What was the point if you weren't in it for the big ideas?
The problem with using Keating in this way however, it that Kelly falls afoul of one the great man's most poignant critiques of old Labor: that they always confused ends with means. Kelly is happy to provide a list of which taxes he wants, and which companies he would break up, but is unable to articulate how this fixes any of the fundamental problems in modern Australia. It's the kind of bucket list you might hear from someone who thought Whitlam's one problem was that he just didn't have enough time. Its almost as if Kelly would be happy if Albanese were to do tax anything -just to be seen to be doing it - even if those things did nothing to improve the material conditions of Australians.
So yes, I think Albanese should do more, and sooner. But unlike Kelly I think Albanese would do better to finish the economic revolution that Keating started, rather than to go back to the confused and ultimately hopeless fixation on tax and spend with no thought for growth. Labor must focus growth and redistribution in equal measure.
In many ways, I am. Kelly rightly points out that Labor in government has an air of timidity about them, afraid of offending or colliding with politically loadbearing interest groups. This is partly informed by their recent timultous history and partly by Albanese's desire to reshape Labor's position in the political landscape, but even with explanation it is getting more and more difficult to clearly articulate what a Labor government wants to actually do with its time in office. Other than winning the next election. There is nuance behind their approach, and I'm sure that if you talked to Albanese or Chalmers they would ask us to judge their ambitions in hindsight rather than at what they see as quarter time, but the disappointment remains nonetheless.
For the sake of brevity I will refrain pointing out all the places Kelly and I agree so this review might seem more negative than , but Economics is where Kelly and I diverge and where I think a significant problem with his vision presents itself. In Kelly's view, Labor has forgotten its progressive soul. It has ripped out its beating heart, the raucus redistributive Left, and sacrificed them at the altar of monied interests and electability. Kelly uses Keating, the politician with an Artist's genius, as the emblem of a Labor man who valued ideas that far exceeded the 'possible'. Keating often stated that all Hawke wanted to do was accumulate political capital, where he wanted to spend every last drop. What was the point if you weren't in it for the big ideas?
The problem with using Keating in this way however, it that Kelly falls afoul of one the great man's most poignant critiques of old Labor: that they always confused ends with means. Kelly is happy to provide a list of which taxes he wants, and which companies he would break up, but is unable to articulate how this fixes any of the fundamental problems in modern Australia. It's the kind of bucket list you might hear from someone who thought Whitlam's one problem was that he just didn't have enough time. Its almost as if Kelly would be happy if Albanese were to do tax anything -just to be seen to be doing it - even if those things did nothing to improve the material conditions of Australians.
So yes, I think Albanese should do more, and sooner. But unlike Kelly I think Albanese would do better to finish the economic revolution that Keating started, rather than to go back to the confused and ultimately hopeless fixation on tax and spend with no thought for growth. Labor must focus growth and redistribution in equal measure.
December 2, 2025
Kelly makes some great observations of the ALP, based on his inside knowledge of how things work as a former Labor staffer. But I finished the essay with the same thoughts.. why won’t the ALP adopt a Nike stance and “just do it”? The answer in my mind, remains the same… “Follow the money”. After all, it makes the world go around, doesn’t it? Political ideals are cast aside for the sake of keeping the rich rich and the poor poor. 😖
December 27, 2025
3.5/5 This is a fair analysis of the current state of the Labor party. I agree with the vast majority of this essay, except I fear my radical tendencies put me at odds with some of the concessions Kelly is willing to make.
November 17, 2025
fantastic, probably the best thing i've read this year in the area of australian politics
December 27, 2025
The Labor government need to find Dezi Freeman if they want to be taken seriously by Australians
December 6, 2025
Dennis Altman for The Conversation writes a thorough and worthwhile-read review of Kelly’s QE. Regardless of its critical reviews, I found this edition interesting, nuanced and well-grounded in history, economics, and cultural context.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews