"Confidence" in a federal government committed to evidence-based policy and cabinet process rather than the notorious "colour-coded spreadsheet" approach of its predecessor.

"Stability" arising from a competent government calibrating budget health, the longer-term needs of the economy, and the here-and-now effects for ordinary households.

And enhanced "security" through the projection of global re-engagement, increased expenditure on sovereign defence and surveillance capabilities, and through the strengthening of prudent alliances.

What's the popular saying though ... two out of three ain't bad?

In some measure, the Prime Minister advanced all three. Yet these economic times do not feel particularly "stable".

To adapt an observation about productivity, "the economy is not everything in government, but it is almost everything".

Indeed, voter anxiety about the economy only slides down the list of pre-occupations when things are sweet, which is neither as frequent nor enduring as we'd like. No wonder economics is called "the dismal science".

Inevitably, journalists had their own list anyway and it was a different three things: AUKUS; superannuation; and the Voice referendum.

On AUKUS, Albanese emphasised that the tripartite Morrison-era pact with the US and UK is about a lot more than acquiring nuclear submarines. It would entail other hardware and defence technologies, strategic cooperation, and what's inelegantly referred to as inter-operability.

Stressing that AUKUS is no zero-sum-game for defence jobs, Albanese argues this is one case where one, plus one, plus one, will add up to more than three. We'll see. Specifics remain thin on the ground. For now at least.

On superannuation, there are already jitters. The government appears to be eyeing changes to make the tax concessions less costly to the public purse, and thus less lucrative for the larger accounts. This is morally sound, if politically perilous.

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Tinkering with super rules frightens all employees who already feel anxious about their retirement nest-eggs.

If you want to know how nervous, think back to 2019 and how proposed Labor changes to investment boondoggles for baby boomers (negative gearing, capital gains tax, franking credits) fuelled a major Coalition scare campaign which basically sank Bill Shorten.

Then there's the Voice. Here Albanese projects admirable conviction and continued confidence in the Australian people. Yet he also stands back in the hope that the public discussion transcends politics.

Albanese has observably grown into the job and comes across as comfortable and relaxed in the role.

But the evidence suggests his government has entered its post-honeymoon period where the interplay of unfavourable economic conditions and reform ambitions is becoming trickier.