Word is Albo is finished and Jim Chalmers is next in line for PM. But what no one is saying publicly is whether THOSE rumours about the Treasurer’s past are holding him back…

Attention shifts to the viability or otherwise of taking over from Treasurer Jim Chalmers as Labor leader, whether that makes him Prime Minister or Opposition Leader.

One of opposition leader Peter Dutton’s fiercest critics, commentator Niki Savva, has hit out at Anthony Albanese, claiming the Prime Minister may have already ‘destroyed’ his legacy.

If Albo loses the federal election next year, “he will take a lot of the blame and his legacy will be destroyed,” she says.

Savva wants the prime minister to step aside – even if he wins the election – “so Labor can recover.” “He should count his blessings and then gracefully relinquish his job,” she argues.

That puts Chalmers center stage as the alternative Labor leader, a label he tried to downplay last week by saying he expects Albo to serve a full second term if re-elected.

But the treasurer’s Labor colleagues don’t believe it. One of them simply said “yeah, right” when I directed Chalmers’ rejection at her.

But is Chalmers ready to step up when Labor needs him? Or could he be brought down by a whispering campaign about Chalmers’ past, mounted by political opponents who also have designs on Albo’s work?

During Labour’s first term, Chalmers took part in a number of profile works, which his colleagues interpreted as laying the groundwork for an eventual move to higher office.

But the 46-year-old treasurer has at least one self-appointed skeleton in his political closet: his excessive drinking. He claims he put that behind him to set a better example for the young children he shares with his wife Laura.

In a profile piece late last year, Chalmers said it was difficult not to get “emotional” when talking about his past proclivity for drinking, but he knew he “couldn’t keep drinking six or seven nights a week” and didn’t want to those are children to ‘think adults do that every night’.

The journalist who wrote the Good Weekend article noted that there was talk of Chalmers ‘socially loosening up around Parliament House’.

Now I don’t know exactly what that means, but those eight carefully chosen words have set the rumor mill in the media and politics into overdrive. They’re exactly the kind of words journalists choose when they know something but don’t have enough evidence to say it outright.

Regardless of what was or was not hinted at, the treasurer responded by saying that the gossip came from him.drinking too much’, but he denied that this was related to his decision to give up alcohol.

Fast forward to today and with Labor trailing in the polls and the Prime Minister floundering, there is talk that a generational shift to Chalmers could be the recipe for a government revival.

In her column, Savva points out that the Prime Minister “has lost his mojo, his judgment has failed him and if he cannot muster the discipline to shape up, he should leave before the elections to give someone else the chance to take over.” against the unbridled Peter. Dutton’.

Such sentiment points to Chalmers as the alternative leader. Tanya Plibersek lacks faction support and is in the same left-wing faction as Albo.

Right-wing faction figures such as Chris Bowen and Tony Burke are also not seen as viable alternative leaders.

But if Chalmers is the heir apparent, how can he represent a fresh start for Labor when he is also the architect of its economic strategy? A strategy that has contributed to higher interest rates and inflation that remains stubbornly high compared to peer OECD countries that have already implemented interest rate cuts to help manage cost-of-living pressures.

As treasurer, Chalmers has presided over two consecutive budget surpluses, a feat the coalition aimed for but never achieved.

That said, next year’s budget will be wall-to-wall in the red, with large deficits around the estimates contributing to record levels of debt that future generations will one day have to repay.

In the meantime, the interest on that debt alone has become one of the most expensive items in the budget. Chalmers must take some of the blame for this, having failed to rein in government spending.

Indeed, he has made a virtue of record levels of government spending, arguing that this has been a key feature of his economic management, which has helped Australians manage the cost of living crisis.

Critics disagree, citing the RBA governor’s comment that state and federal government spending makes it harder for the central bank to cut interest rates despite the sluggish economy showing sluggish growth to see.

If Albanians cannot climb out of the political quagmire he has created for himself – including persistent criticism of his failed Voice referendum – Chalmers could perhaps take the lead.

If Chalmers takes over, having put down the grog and cleaned up his act, he could up the ante on Labour’s economic reform agenda.

Government insiders claim that the only reason why changes to policy areas such as negative gearing and capital gains taxes are not yet on the agenda is because a cautious Prime Minister continues to overrule his Treasurer.

That wouldn’t happen if Chalmers became prime minister.

Before entering parliament, he worked as chief of staff to former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan. That Labor government tried to introduce a mining tax, among other reforms.

As shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer presiding over the 2019 election, Chalmers championed a range of economic reforms campaigned for by Bill Shorten as Labor opposition leader. I understand that the current treasurer continues to privately advocate for many of these policies, even if he must publicly toe the party line and deny such sentiments now that Albo is in charge.

If the Prime Minister is as damaged as Savva claims, Chalmers may have the opportunity to shift Labour’s policy settings from the do-nothing caution Albo has shown by pursuing a bolder reform agenda.

That could be something worth a (non-alcoholic) toast in the treasurer’s household. Assuming his past doesn’t get in the way of his future.