The smartest man in Labor's building is heading for the exit, and nobody's asking for the keys

SMH · Rob Harris · Saturday 4 April 2026

The smartest man in Labor's building is heading for the exit, and nobody's asking for the keys

Barry Jones, 93, takes aim at Albanese's lack of reform courage and a political system that rewards timidity over substance, in what may be his final major interview.

Barry Jones is ninety-three and still the sharpest mind in the Labor building, which tells you everything about the building. The man wrote Sleepers, Wake! in 1982 warning Australia about the knowledge economy, and forty-four years later we're still hitting snooze. Albanese governs the way a man drives with the handbrake on — technically moving, but burning out the parts that matter.

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