By Michelle Grattan in Canberra

A former senior member of the Hawke and Keating governments, Gareth Evans, has accused the Albanese government of political timidity, condemning its instinct to “move into cautious, defensive, wedge-avoiding mode”.

In a speech on Wednesday, Evans said the government had enough first-rate ministerial talent “to be a great reforming government in the Hawke-Keating tradition”, spending political capital rather then hording it indefinitely while its value eroded.

But, he said, the government had gone into a defensive mode on issues such as gambling advertising, electoral funding, census questions, the Makarrata commission and any constitutional reform, including for a republic.

“Perhaps most disconcertingly of all, given the security and sovereignty stakes involved” was AUKUS, said Evans, who has been among a number of Labor critics of the agreement, including Paul Keating.

“The government reward for all this has not been an increase but a decline in its popularity,” Evans said.

He acknowledges other factors had contributed to the government’s present situation, including concerns about the cost of living and housing availability, which would be difficult for the most competent government.

“But one can’t avoid the impression that more and more people are asking, what exactly is this Labor government for?

“It’s time for the party leadership to recover its mojo and tell them – a prosperous, secure and above all more decent society, of the kind that only a Labor government can deliver.”

Evans was foreign minister in the Hawke and Keating governments and held various other portfolios; he is also former chancellor of the Australian National University. He was delivering the 2024 Barry Jones Oration. His speech, titled Looking on the Bright Side: the risks – and rewards – of political optimism, exhorted the need to maintain “a spirit of optimism about the art of possible”.

“If we want to change for the better it is crucial we maintain hope.” he said.

“Whether we be in governments or parliaments or intergovernmental organisations, in academia or think-tanks, or in the media, or in NGOs, or with influential social responsibility roles in the private sector, or just plain ordinary citizens with a passion for decency, we have to go on believing that what we do can and will make a difference.”

Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra. Republished from The Conversation.