Anthony Albanese has defended Tanya Plibersek for comparing the incoming opposition leader to bald Harry Potter villain ‘Voldemort’, arguing that Scott Morrison mocked him for his appearance in the past.
Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr questioned the new Prime Minister on Thursday about the brutal insult against Peter Dutton, pointing out that there would be “I would pay hell” if a man made fun of a female MP’s appearance.
Plibersek, who is expected to become the country’s next Education Minister following Labour’s historic election victory, said many children who have seen the films will be very “afraid” of the former Defense Minister when they see him on television .
“I’m saying he looks a bit like Voldemort and we’ll see if he can do what he promised the last time he ran for leader, which is smile more,” Ms Plibersek told 4BC radio.
Dutton weighed in on the saga on Thursday, telling 2GB radio that he reads similar attacks online all the time and that this is “water off a duck’s back.”
Dutton revealed to host Ray Hadley that he also suffers from a rare skin condition and is ‘not bald by choice’.
Peter Dutton (pictured), who is expected to be the next leader of the Liberal Party, has been compared to Harry Potter’s arch-nemesis Voldemort by Labor MP Tanya Plibersek.
Barr asked Albanese if she plans to “bring (Ms. Plibersek) to task” over the comments.
The new prime minister responded: “She already apologized.”
‘There are some comments made by the former Prime Minister about my appearance that you may remember as part of the election campaign.
“We should not refer to people’s appearance, let’s discuss political differences,” he said in the program.
Albanese said he is “very serious” about changing the way politics operates in this country, but he also understands that “people make mistakes.”
“When they make a mistake they should apologize and move on,” he said.
“That’s one of the ways we can change the way politics operates and Tanya has done the appropriate thing here.”
Tanya Plibersek (right) pictured with her husband Michael Coutts-Trotter (left). Plibersek comes under fire for comment she made about Peter Dutton’s appearance
Anthony Albanese (right) has defended Tanya Plibersek in Sunrise (Natalie Barr left alongside David Koch) after she compared the incoming opposition leader to bald Harry Potter villain ‘Voldemort’, arguing that Scott Morrison too made fun of him for his appearance in the past
Albanese detailed exactly what comments Morrison made about him in the run-up to the election.
‘Scott Morrison had a whole show that seemed to be dedicated to an analysis of my glasses or whether I lost weight or how I look. We can do better than that,’ he stated.
He also surprised TV presenters by saying that he has a good personal relationship with Peter Dutton.
He has never broken a confidence or his word that he had given me. This is a good starting point,” said Mr Albanese.
“I think I certainly have a better relationship with the future leader of the Liberal Party. If that happens. I wish him well. “I want to work across parliament, wherever possible.”
On Monday, Albanese was sworn in as Prime Minister before traveling to the Quad leaders’ summit in Tokyo. Pictured, left to right: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Albanese has hit the ground running since winning victory in Saturday’s election.
On Monday he was sworn in as Prime Minister before traveling to the Quad leaders’ summit in Tokyo.
The regional security partnership includes Australia, the United States, Japan and India and aims to counter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
US President Joe Biden praised Albanese’s resilience on his first day in office.
“You took an oath, you got on a plane and if you fall asleep while you’re here, it’s okay because I don’t know how you’re doing it,” he said.
“It is really extraordinary to also come out of the electoral campaign.
US President Joe Biden praised Albanese’s resilience on his first day in office (pictured together at Quad meeting)
‘Congratulations on your choice. When he won and I called him, we really appreciated his commitment to being here so soon after taking office.’
Upon his return to Australia, the Prime Minister called the trip a great success, but admitted he is still getting used to his title.
“It really hit me when people started calling you Prime Minister and you realize that you’re not looking for someone else, it’s actually you,” he told Sunrise.
As for Ms. Plibersek, she apologized to Mr. Dutton via text message.