A Scott Morrison supporter has infiltrated a Labor event with the double agent hiding in plain sight.
A photo from Thursday’s election campaign shows Anthony Albanese with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in the Brisbane suburb of Indooroopilly.
But among the sea of smiling faces in red shirts and Labor banners, a lone man in a blue cap looks over the shoulder of a bearded man in the center-right of the frame.
The large National Liberal Party logo emblazoned on the stranger’s cap appears to have gone unnoticed by Albanese’s camp.
An uninvited guest infiltrated a Labor event on Thursday and was spotted among seas of red shirts.
Albanese has made a whirlwind tour of marginal seats with just two days left until the federal election.
The opposition leader began Thursday at the Bennelong seat in Sydney, but by the afternoon he was in Brisbane visiting several electorates.
He campaigned at a pre-voting site in Ryan, where the photo was taken and posted to his Twitter, before visiting another early voting site in the nearby electorate of Dickson.
The man donned a bright blue LNP cap as he looked over the shoulder of a Labor supporter.
Earlier Thursday, Albanese indicated he wanted to maximize the success of a referendum recognizing Australia’s indigenous people in the constitution.
The opposition leader has said he would seek to implement the Uluru Heart Statement in full, should Labor win Saturday’s election.
Albanese said an Indigenous voice in parliament would not be a third chamber of parliament.
“I want to work with First Nations people on the timetable for a referendum, I also want to reach out to all the parties,” he said Thursday.
He also made another blunder in a campaign marked by setbacks.
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast on Thursday morning, he claimed Australia’s borders are closed, when they have been open to vaccinated travelers for months.
“However, two days before the election campaign, and such a low unemployment rate will surely give the government a boost to their argument about how they run the economy.” said host Lisa Millar.
‘Our borders are closed, Lisa. Our borders are closed. People are doing it very hard,” Mr Albanese responded.
“This is having an impact on employment figures, we know this is the case,” he added.
‘We want an economy that works for people, not people who work for the economy. “That is why we will alleviate the cost of living by offering cheaper childcare and cheaper electricity prices.”
A few hours later he clarified the gaffe at a press conference, stating that he intended to say “the borders were closed’.
Australian opposition leader Anthony Albanese fist bumps a supporter while visiting Labor candidate for the seat of Dickson Aly France in Brisbane on Thursday (pictured).
On Thursday, Labor also published its costs just two days before Election Day, revealing it will spend $7.4 billion more than the Coalition.
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the difference in spending was “modest”.
“The modest $7.4 billion difference between the two budgets is made up of key investments in child care, investments in training and education, and investments in cleaner, cheaper energy,” he said.
They will also eliminate a regionalization grant program to save money and estimate they can save $400 million by eliminating temporary protection visas and allowing refugees to stay permanently.
This led Scott Morrison to respond that this would lead to an influx of boats of people jumping the border trying to travel to Australia illegally, as happened when previous Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tried the same tactic in 2008.
“They (Labour) can’t manage borders any better than money,” he said.
Albanese’s campaign mistakes
April 11: He wrongly assumed the unemployment rate was 5.4% and failed to give the Reserve Bank’s interest rate.
April 12th: Admitted that he did not know who the Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, was.
April 13th: He stormed out of a press conference after just 10 questions, two days after saying: “I’m not Scott Morrison, I don’t run away from press conferences.”
May 5th: He was unable to outline his six-point plan for the NDIS until an adviser handed him a policy document to read at a press conference.
may 19: Interestingly, Australia’s borders are closed when they have been open for three months.
