CANBERRA, Australia — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a Sydney audience Thursday that he’d urge state governors to declare a weeklong holiday if Australia wins the World Cup.
Albanese’s enthusiasm for the Socceroos’ prospects — when Australia plays Egypt in their first knockout match — isn’t shared by many of his colleagues: POLITICO approached a dozen ministers and members of Parliament for comments, favorite players and travel plans regarding today’s match, but all declined to respond.
The underlying reason: a 2025 travel spending scandal involving Sports Minister Anika Wells, which nearly cost her the ministry. The scandal left most MPs afraid to travel during Parliament’s sitting weeks, leaving Jerome Laxale, a second-term member, as the unexpected face of the ruling Labor Party during group matches.
Laxale’s rise to fame was likened Wednesday during a roast at the Australian Parliamentary Press Gallery Midwinter Ball — the local version of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — to “subbing in Lionel Messi for a midfielder from Curaçao.”
Three MPs from the conservative opposition Liberal Party told The Sydney Morning Herald they were either paying their own way to the World Cup or able to join only because of existing unrelated travel plans.
The weeklong public holiday upon Australia’s lifting the trophy — which, let’s be honest, is probably not worth clearing one’s schedule for — requires state governors to make official. The last time Albanese declared unilaterally declared one was upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
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