SMH · James Massola · Thursday 26 March 2026
Albanese faces pressure over the fuel crisis, with commentators framing it as a leadership-defining moment — though the structural vulnerability predates his government by decades.
The press gallery has one play left: declare every crisis a PM's 'defining moment' and watch him either seize it or fumble. But the fuel shortage isn't a test of character — it's the invoice for thirty years of strategic negligence by both sides, arriving at a door Albanese happens to be standing behind. Calling it his 'COVID moment' flatters both the crisis and the response: COVID required improvisation, this one required foresight we never bothered having.