ABC star Laura Tingle hits out at Anthony Albanese with blunt question: ‘I don’t think that’s fair’
Anthony Albanese has hit back at the ABC’s chief political correspondent after she questioned whether his government was ambitious enough.
Laura Tingle grilled the prime minister on the ABC’s 7.30pm show on Thursday night, hours after he addressed Labor loyalists at his national conference in Brisbane.
“The overwhelming message from your own party is that you’re not doing enough, whether it’s on housing, climate, energy,” Ms Tingle said.
“Should voters be wondering if you are ambitious enough with what you are trying to achieve in government?”
Mr Albanese pushed back the first salvo with his usual calm, saying his government had “implemented almost all the policies that we carried out in the election”.
But Ms Tingle took him further, asking if any of the measures his administration had introduced had “really reset the policy discussion, whether it’s on ‘climate, national security or defence’.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off the national conference with a call to arms ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum and a scathing dismantling of the Liberal Party for having a ‘pathological problem of never saying the word Yes’.
“The memorable ALP conferences that everyone is getting sentimental about have really seen the government pushing the party to change their positions and you’re basically pushing back against the party trying to change your positions,” Ms Tingle said.
The Prime Minister shot back: ‘I don’t think that’s true, Laura’ before rolling out a list of political achievements relating to climate targets, funding for manufacturing, childcare and the upcoming Voice referendum.
While Labor holds a national conference every three years, it is the first in over a decade that Labor has been in power
“If you look across the economic, social and environmental agenda, ours is a government with a sense of purpose delivering what we have brought to the Australian people in 2022,” Mr Albanese said.
His comments followed his keynote address to the National Labor Party Conference at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, where he issued a scathing dismantling of the Liberal Party.
He accused the former Liberal Party, which he called the ‘Noalition’, of having a ‘pathological problem of never saying the word Yes’.
“Never again can the Liberals call themselves the party of fiscal responsibility, when they left behind only a trillion dollars in debt.”
“Never again will the Liberals be able to pretend that they support the jobs aspiration when all they have done is undermine industry and maintain wages as a deliberate policy.
‘Never again can the party of Robodebt pretend that they care about the fighters.
“Because they will be condemned forever for the unlawful harassment of hundreds of thousands of Australia’s most vulnerable.”
Mr Albanese has revealed his hope to lead a ‘long-term government’ that ‘shapes the future’ of Australia.
“We are here to work for Australia, and on behalf of our Labor Government I say to every Australian; we are here to work for you.
“Labour wants to make sure no one is left behind. It’s what we do, it’s part of our character.
Over the next three days, Labor politicians, business leaders, union members, activists and ordinary members will mingle and debate the framework of the government’s agenda.
The first day was rocked by protests from a construction union calling for action against the housing crisis and environmentalists.
