Was Anthony Albanese wrong to seek a PwC internship for his son?

In 2021, while opposition leader, Anthony Albanese spoke to PwC’s then-government relations head about his son undertaking an internship with the firm, according to the Financial Review’s Joe Aston and Mariam Robin. Nathan Albanese subsequently had a two-week unpaid internship.

Albanese says his son is not a public figure, and declined to answer questions about the internship or the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge membership given to his son.

But the questions are not about his son, who is indeed not a public figure, and who faces the simultaneous burden and opportunity of being the son of the prime minister when it comes to employment, finances and life generally. The questions relate purely to Albanese and his actions at the time as opposition leader and thus the possible next prime minister.

If a prime minister’s kids are still at school, there’s usually little potential for political trouble, although Tony Blair’s son Euan was arrested for drunkenness at the age of 16, prompting Blair to say that “being a prime minister can be a tough job, but I always think being a parent is probably tougher”. Adult children are off leading their own lives, although their problems might end up having a real impact on their parents, as Bob Hawke found.

But older kids making the transition from education to the workplace — a process parents naturally want to help them with as much as possible — represent a potential problem for senior politicians. As parents, we often turn to our peers and professional connections about opportunities for our children, exploiting networks and links forged through our own careers. Inevitably, this advantages those with greater affluence, or who are connected to more extensive or more lucrative economic networks. And senior politicians have some of the biggest networks of all.

Unlike most of us, however, when politicians ask for favours, the request comes with baggage. They have, or may in the future have, power — and power of a kind that might benefit or harm a business. As a man with a very strong chance of becoming prime minister in the ensuing 12 months, Albanese’s conversations with PwC came with about as much baggage as it’s possible to accumulate.

As it turns out, there’s no suggestion PwC benefited from having Nathan Albanese in the office for a fortnight for free, no suggestion that any favours were called in from the prime minister as the firm commenced its ongoing and self-inflicted torment over leaking multinational tax reform proposals. But again, that’s not the issue — it’s about Albanese’s judgment that it was appropriate to discuss a favour for his son from the firm. As the alternative prime minister, Albanese should have suspended his understandable inclination to help his son out, as part of the price of seeking high office.

Funnily enough, however, the media reaction, other than from Aston, has been muted, and neither the Coalition nor the crossbench has pursued the PwC matter or the Chairman’s Lounge membership. As pretty much every MP is in on the Chairman’s Lounge racket, the failure to pursue that makes sense. But where’s the castigation of Albanese for seeking a favour for his son? Nationals Leader David Littleproud actually defended the prime minister from “personal attacks on family members”.

It’s very likely because a lot of MPs have done exactly what Albanese has done and used their networks to seek out opportunities for their kids. Any attack on the prime minister would lead to plenty of other revelations of how MPs got some sort of favour or position for their kids through their work. For that matter, judging by the level of nepotism that goes on in the media industry, a lot of journalists and editors might be similarly exposed.

It’s all part of how power works, to entrench privilege, as affluent, powerful or well-connected parents try to ensure their kids have the best advantages possible. For a prime minister or prime minister-to-be, however, what comes naturally is still a potential conflict of interest, and it’s poor judgment to do it.

Should Albanese be copping flak over this? Let us know by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.