Fatima Payman and Anthony Albanese (Image: Private Media/Zennie)
Fatima Payman and Anthony Albanese (Image: Private Media/Zennie)

People who know about these things tell me that American football lost its thrill once cheap camcorders came on the market. Teams could now film not merely actual games, but every practice from multiple angles. Coaching became a fascinated, endless rewatching of the particular moment when a sequence of play went one way, and one could hear bones cracking beneath a pile of bodies. It is possible, in such circumstances, to conclude that though everything went wrong, the play was right. 

Which brings us to the Albanese government, and the departure of Senator Fatima Payman from Labor.