Anthony Albanese has hit back at criticism of his campaign mistakes in a heated interview on the eve of the election.
Mr. Albanese was tested by ABC presenter Leigh Sales at 7.30am for several missteps in the campaign, which prompted the opposition leader to withdraw.
“During the campaign, you made a mistake in the unemployment rate. You said that Australia’s borders were closed this week when they weren’t. You supported a 5.1 percent pay increase and reversed it to say it would only be for people on minimum wages,” Sales said.
“That’s not right,” replied Mr. Albanian.
Sales insisted that her claims were correct, to which Mr. Albanese repeated: “That is not correct.”
“That’s not right. That’s not right. Some of the bullshit that happened,” he said.
Camera icon Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has hit back at criticism of his performance during the election in a heated live interview. Image: ABC Credit: Included
‘I’ll tell you what happened. We were asked whether the Fair Work Commission would come up with a 5.1 percent increase. Would you welcome that? And I said absolutely. Absolutely, I would.”
Sales claimed that Mr. Albanian had been unclear about pay increases.
“During this campaign, with all due respect, some of the nonsense that has been done by some journalists who thought the campaign was about them is one of the things that keeps people from politics,” he said.
Mr. Albanese said that at the time, he had confessed to the error of the unemployment rate and, contrary to some parts of the media, had moved on.
Camera IconSales negatively criticized the opposition leader on the eve of the elections. Image: ABC Credit: Included
Mr. Albanian faced some tough questions, including Labor’s claims in the 2016 election that the coalition would privatize Medicare.
“Medicare will not be privatized. However, Labor said. You want us to trust you now, that’s what you said in 2016, and it never happened,” Sales said.
More recent criticism has been of Labor’s policy of supporting tax cuts for wealthy Australians while leaving “unlivable” social benefits unchanged.
“What is today’s Labor even if you don’t prioritize that over tax cuts for the rich?” asked Mrs. Sales.
Mr. Albanian replied: “I’ll tell you what happened – we lost the last election. We lost the last election, and those cuts, the tax cuts, are legislated.”
He said Labor would consider doing what it could for people who are “obviously struggling” but noted the country is in debt of $1 trillion.
Camera icon Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has hit back at criticism of his performance during the election in a heated live interview. Image: ABC Credit: Included
The Labor leader has been criticized for the state of Medicare, which many believe is not meeting the medical needs of vulnerable Australians.
The sale rejected Mr. Albanese’s suggestion that Labor’s policy of 50 emergency care clinics would fill in the gaps.
“That has nothing to do with what I just raised,” she said.
Mr. Albanese replied, “Labor will always be better for Medicare and health care.”
He said more than the government’s response, mainstream Australians were responsible for the country’s relative success emerging from the pandemic.
“Australians have responded fantastically to the challenges. That’s what Australians do. The strength of our Australian society was shown,” said Mr. Albanese.
The opposition leader said during the pandemic that Labor put the national interest first by supporting many of the coalition’s measures.