The state loss is about much more than the regional towns of the Hunter Valley because the reaction to the result plays into a real divide inside the party over how to take on Scott Morrison.
Whileformer Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon launched a media blitz on Monday morning to urge a different approach to defeating the Prime Minister,he is not the only one who fears Labor is losing ground.
Others say it is ludicrous for Albanese and those around him to dismiss the state result as if it sends no message about the coming federal campaign.
“This result is a wake-up call,” says one MP.
Albanese pointed on Monday to some of the gains for Labor in some parts of the electorate. This was true:at the polling station at the Muswellbrook indoor sports centre,for instance,there was a 2.5 per cent swing to Labor on primary votes and a 10.5 per cent swing after preferences.
But Muswellbrook is the home town for Labor’s candidate,Jeff Drayton,and should have been safe.