.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
“I Was Raised to Be an Optimist” Albanese’s Optimism Captured Australia
Commentary by Victor Perton
“I was raised to be an optimist,” said the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in his 2025 election victory speech last night.
A victory for the optimist and an optimistic narrative! The Prime Minister said, “in this time of global uncertainty, Australians have chosen optimism and determination.”
Anthony Albanese’s 2025 landslide victory is more than a political milestone. It is a powerful affirmation of optimistic leadership. In a world often clouded by uncertainty and negativity, Australians chose not fear but hope. Not cynicism but belief. This was a victory for leadership that radiates confidence in the nation’s potential and invites every citizen to walk together into a future built on possibility. It shows that optimism is not just a sentiment. It is a strategy for national renewal.
Summoning the inspiration of his Mother, he said, “I was raised to be an optimist. My Mum had a hard life, and we struggled financially but she taught me always to be positive and see the best in people. When it comes to Australia’s future all of us have so much reason to be optimistic because when we look at everything going on around the world today when we consider the changes that will shape the future of the global economy when we think about our people and their smarts and skills truly there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than right here in Australia…”
Concluding, the Prime Minister said: “Our government will choose the Australian way because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country we did not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else we do not seek our inspiration overseas we find it right here in our values and in our people tomorrow we dedicate ourselves to your service we renew the great responsibility and the opportunity of government and with pride and purpose, optimism and determination, with faith in the fair go and faith in each other we return to the work of building Australia’s future.”
Albanese's Infectious Optimism and the Leadership Contrast
On election eve, 2022, Albanese said: "I want a country where hope and optimism are the major emotions projected from our national government to the Australian people."
On the doorstep of his home before heading to Canberra to be sworn in as Prime Minister, he said: "I want to lead a government that has the same sentiment of optimism and hope that defines the Australian people. I want to be positive and channel the opportunity we have to shape change, so we bring people with us on the journey of change."
Albanese’s consistent use of optimistic language, exemplified by his frequent declarations of being “optimistic about Australia's future,” stands in stark contrast to the Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s sporadic and often critical references. This rhetorical divergence not only reflects their individual leadership styles but also resonated with the electorate, culminating in a historic victory for Labor and the unprecedented loss of Dutton’s seat.
People want Optimistic Leadership
As the Prime Minister committed to do at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa in October, we need to restore optimism in our common future.
Our challenge now, the Prime Minister’s challenge too, is translating his infectious joyful optimism into an infection for the nation.
The power of optimism is a rising tide, confirmed across the world’s leading institutions. Gallup finds that people seek leaders who radiate optimism, hope and vision. Korn Ferry identifies optimism as a key differentiator among the highest-performing leaders. McKinsey lists optimism as the number one core trait needed for leadership in the 21st century. The University of Sydney’s Optimism Effect shows that productivity, innovation and wellbeing all rise when cultures are shaped by optimistic leadership. Our own research at The Centre for Optimism and The Australian Leadership Project, built on over a decade of interviews and data, confirms that optimism is not just desirable. It is what Australians most value in their leaders. As articulated in The Optimism Principle, "The answer to life’s most pressing questions is optimism," this mindset is not wishful thinking. It is a leadership advantage, a cultural catalyst and a driver of extraordinary results.
And in choosing optimism we do more than elect a leader. We choose a future worth believing in.
Self-Improvement • Mental Health • 38 episodes
That Optimism Man Victor Perton
Latest episode
Alix Bradfield on Living Well with Optimism in Your Eighties and Beyond
The Unapologetic Optimist Julian Mather: Own Up. Wise Up. Step Up.
The Artist Rich Wilkie on Optimism as an Antidote to Pessimism and Depression
The Climate Optimist Meets That Optimism Man: Anne Therese Gennari in Conversation
More episodes
.png)
.png)
.png)
Keep up to date with the latest from Centre for Optimism
We appreciate any contribution you can make to help us spread optimism with the world
.svg)
.svg)
