Election: Anthony Albanese cops grilling in tense interview: 'Shouldn't you know?'
The man who wants to be the next prime minister has come under fire on national television for passing the buck on questions directed at him.
Tensions boiled over in an interview on the Today show this morning, when host Ally Langdon accused Anthony Albanese of asking shadow ministers to step in during press conferences.
“I’ve noticed that on several occasions you hand over economic questions to someone else,” Ms Langdon pressed on Thursday.
She pointed to a media event this week when Mr Albanese handed over a question on interest rates to Jim Chalmers, and a question on housing to Jason Clare.
“You want to be prime minister,” Ms Langdon said. “Shouldn’t you know the answer?”
The Labor leader was quick to retort.
“I’m here, Ally,” he said. “No-one to hand over to.”
Acknowledging that he was the captain of a great team, Mr Albanese defended his moves, saying Mr Chalmers, as the Shadow Treasurer, and Mr Clare, as the Shadow Housing Minister, were the right people to answer those questions.
“Scott Morrison’s got no one behind him,” he added, “Scott Morrison’s got internal chaos and division in the Liberal Party.”
When Ms Langdon continued to probe the issue, Mr Albanese fired up.
“Stop reading from the Liberal Party notes that they send through to people all of the time, Ally,” he argued.
“This is just an absurdity.”
A six point stumble
Just hours later, Mr Albanese was back in the firing line - this time over his policy for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
In a press conference in Sydney, the Labor Leader was repeatedly asked by journalists to detail the six points of Labor's plan, but he appeared unable to answer them.
The head of the Opposition could then be seen stepping away from the lectern before being handed notes by a senior adviser.
When he returned to face the media, he read out the six points from the document.
Journalists accused Mr Albanese of being handed the answers and not knowing his own policy.
Anthony Albanese has just had his Jaymes Diaz moment.
Can't name the six points of Labor's NDIS plan, so gets handed a document by his advisor. Quite something - and dogged questioning from @TrudyMcIntosh #auspol @SkyNewsAust— Cam Reddin (@CamReddin) May 5, 2022
A campaign of gaffs
Today's stumbles come just weeks after the Labor Leader kicked off his election campaign with a day one bungle, when he was unable to answer what the official cash rate or unemployment figure was.
Mr Albanese later owned up to not knowing the numbers, saying that everyone makes mistakes.
With 16 days left until voters go to the polls, all eyes will continue to be on him.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
