ISABELLE MULLEN: Anthony Albanese will need to build bridges in the event of a second Donald Trump presidency
In the age of social media and iPhones, old views can come back to haunt the best of us.
For the Prime Minister, it was a seemingly harmless comment to a safe crowd at a music festival that could hurt him if Donald Trump reclaims the keys to the White House.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.On the eve of the US election, a video from 2017 has resurfaced.
In it, Anthony Albanese tells a panel at Splendour in the Grass that Donald Trump “scares the shit” out of him.
I bet he never thought Donald Trump would get another run at the White House.
And if the polls are correct, he has as good a chance as Kamala Harris of winning.
“I think it’s of some concern that the leader of the free world thinks that you can conduct politics through 140 characters on Twitter,” Albanese told festivalgoers.
It’s this old comment that’s created new questions over our relationship with the United States how our politically liberal leader would work with a conservative US government, and whether his views will jeopardise our security arrangements.
His colleagues say he made that comment a long time ago.
It’s the latest blow for the Prime Minister who has worked hard to deflect attention away from his free flight upgrade saga.
A tough task for any politician, particularly in Canberra.
This week, Anthony Albanese changed the conversation from politicians’ perks and his relationship with former Qantas boss Alan Joyce to cheaper education if re-elected.
His relationship with Alan Joyce — and whether he called on him for favours — is now old news.
After a tough couple of weeks in the firing line, the Prime Minister leant on a crowd he can trust to sell Labor’s new message.
His party faithful in Adelaide.
Albanese launched what appears to be the Government’s new slogan heading into next year’s election: Building Australia’s Future.
It’s not too dissimilar from Labor’s 2022 slogan: A Better Future.
Labor is again selling itself as the party of optimism and growth and the Coalition the party of negativity and fear.
Inside that room, we got an understanding of how Labor wants to be perceived and how they’ll paint the Opposition Leader.
In the city of churches, Peter Dutton was naturally depicted as the antichrist.
The Prime Minister: a saviour.
Determined to get on the front foot, Anthony Albanese promised to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent, increase HECS repayment thresholds and make free TAFE places permanent.
At this soft campaign launch, there were no questions from journalists or debate from the Opposition.
Just loyal Labor members, screaming their support.
It was a big sell to young voters in a safe space and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles did most of the attacking, painting the Opposition as the big, bad corporate out of touch with regular Australians.
“Australians will be worse off with Peter Dutton, bullying and blocking instead of building, wrecking and whinging instead of working,” he said.
Labor’s first campaign pitch couldn’t have come at a better time.
Months out from next year’s election outlining finer details of policy is a smart move.
After all, there’s been very little detail from the Coalition about Opposition policy.
Peter Dutton has promised to deliver a nuclear energy policy if elected and says there will be seven nuclear reactors nationwide.
But simple questions on how much it will cost, how long it will take to deliver and what will happen to the nuclear waste haven’t yet been answered.
The cost is expected to be exorbitant and the timeline is long.
The Opposition says all will be revealed closer to the election.
For families who need energy bill relief now, it could be a tough sell.
Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard much about it.
