Wednesday 18 May 2022 01:19 AM Federal Election 2022: Anthony Albanese on how Australia will change if Labor ... trends now
Anthony Albanese says Australia is going backwards after almost a decade of Coalition government and there is nothing to fear from putting Labor in control.
The Leader of the Opposition will oversee a program of 'safe change' if he becomes prime minister and claims it is the incumbent Scott Morrison who is the wrecker.
'I'm not saying we'll upend the table and start again,' Albanese says.
'What we'll do is build on what has been built up over a long period of time. I do believe we're the greatest country on earth.'
Morrison claims his challenger is a phony who cannot be trusted with the economy; Albanese says he has the experience to do the job and the country will be safe in his hands.
Anthony Albanese says Australia is going backwards after almost a decade of Coalition government and there is nothing to fear from putting Labor in control. He is pictured on the campaign trail at Fitzroy Island, off Cairns, with partner Jodie Haydon last Friday
'I'm not saying we'll upend the table and start again,' Albanese says. 'What we'll do is build on what has been built up over a long period of time. I do believe we're the greatest country on earth'
The 59-year-old's opponents style him as 'each-way Albo', mock his recent physical transformation and raise revolutionary views he held decades ago to suggest he is still a radical socialist.
Albanese is accused of not being across policy detail, of changing his position on major issues and running a 'small target' campaign which is light on ideas.
He says some of his views have changed since he was a young firebrand, others have been mispresented, and none poses any danger to the country's future.
The public saw little of Albanese during the two years after his elevation to Labor leader following Bill Shorten's loss at the last election. Covid kept him largely out of the news.
Voters might know he lives in Sydney's inner-west where he represents the electorate of Grayndler, and think he likes sipping on craft beers while listening to the Pixies or Ramones.
Some might have heard him say he left his mother's womb with three great faiths: the Catholic Church, the Labor Party and the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Albanese says some of his views have changed since he was a young firebrand, others have been mispresented, and none pose any danger to the country's future. He is pictured with the late Labor legend Bob Hawke in 1986
Many do not seem sure what will happen to Australia if he overthrows a Coalition government seeking a fourth term on Saturday.
Daily Mail Australia spoke exclusively to Albanese while he was campaigning in Queensland in an effort to find the 'real Albo' and have him explain his plans including what 'safe change' really means.
Albanese told of what drives him to want to be prime minister, what can be done to address the spiralling cost of living and the legacy he wants to leave.
He described the childhood that formed his political views and revealed the ex-wife who suddenly left their marriage three ago is out actively campaigning for him.
In a blow to the Young Henry's, Little Creatures and Balter brewing brigade, he disclosed Reschs is actually his beer of choice when it is available on tap.
Voters might know Albanese lives in Sydney's inner-west where he represents the electorate of Grayndler, or that he likes sipping on craft beers while listening to the Pixies or Ramones. He is actually a Reschs drinker, if he can find it on tap
Albanese says the nation will change if he topples Morrison, but warns Australians have more to fear if they don't give him a chance.
He has abandoned much of the rhetoric of class warfare, is not the 'left-wing inner-city bomber thrower' described by former prime minister John Howard, and is interested only in uniting, not dividing the nation.
'You grow,' Albanese says of his development. 'You grow as a person.'
Labor is ahead in the polls, as it was when Shorten lost the supposedly unlosable election, but the mood of voters is very different this time.
Albanese is more personally appealing to most Australians than Shorten, and Morrison is far less popular - including among Liberal voters - than he was in 2019.
Everything but history points to a Labor victory but Albanese says the party still has 'a mountain to climb'.
'We've won office three times since the Second World War,' he says.
Everything but history points to a Labor victory but Albanese says the party still has 'a mountain to climb'. 'We've won office three times since the Second World War,' he says. He is pictured on Fitzroy Island off Cairns on May 13
Albanese would be taking the nation's top job amid high inflation, rising interest rates and stagnant wages. He says he is coming to build and repair and is up for the fight.
'I think one of the characteristics that I have is I'm resilient,' he says. 'I'm a fighter. I've had a tough life in some ways.
'I've had huge advantages as well and a life of privilege compared to what I could have expected as a child.'
I think one of the characteristics that I have is I'm resilient. I'm a fighter. I've had a tough life in some ways.
Albanese often talks of being raised in public housing at inner-city Camperdown by a single mother who suffered chronic rheumatoid arthritis and relied on an invalid pension.
'There were no craft breweries in Camperdown in the 60s and 70s, let me tell you,' he says. 'It was a different place then.
Albanese believed his father had been killed in a car accident until he was about 15 when mother Maryanne revealed she had had fallen pregnant after a brief fling with an Italian steward she met on a voyage from Sydney to England.
Maryanne died in 2002 aged 65. 'She was spent and compared with her life mine's been an absolute dream,' Albanese says.
Albanese finally met his father, Carlo, in Italy in 2009. Carlo died of cancer in 2014.
Albanese often talks of being raised in public housing at inner-city Camperdown by a single mother who suffered chronic rheumatoid arthritis and relied on an invalid pension. He is pictured with mother Maryanne, who Albanese says would be proud of him
Albanese is driven by a philosophy of 'no one left behind, no one held back'. It can be traced to his childhood and his mother's circumstances.
'I want people who are disadvantaged to get a leg up in life, to not leave people behind,' he says. 'That strengthens the whole society.
'This idea that essentially people who are disadvantaged should know their place, I think that is something that comes through sometimes from some on the other side of politics.'
I want people who are disadvantaged to get a leg up in life, to not leave people behind. That strengthens the whole society.
Morrison said last week he had been a 'bulldozer' as prime minister during the pandemic, had made mistakes and his leadership style would have to change.
Albanese responded by saying a bulldozer 'knocks things over' and that Morrison would only become 'more arrogant' and 'out of touch' if given another chance.
'This is a guy who a short time ago was criticising me for losing weight,' he says. 'He said he would never even change his glasses.
'Now he's saying he'll change his whole personality and I see that as completely disingenuous and just not fair dinkum.'
Albanese held ministries in the Rudd and Gillard governments and was deputy prime minister during Kevin Rudd's second turn. He has never been Treasurer of Finance Minister but points to his record managing money in the Infrastructure portfolio
Albanese has notably undergone a recent physical transformation, losing 20kg, sharpening up his wardrobe and buying those new spectacles. 'I'm proud of it,' he says of his lighter frame.
Albanese suffered serious injuries when a four-wheel drive driven by a 17-year-old P-plater ploughed into his Toyota Camry at Marrickville, not far from his home, in January last year.
'When you have a head-on car accident and there's a Range Rover coming for you full bore and you survive you think about your health,' he says.
Albanese slimmed down through 'commitment and discipline'. 'It's not easy in your late 50s to lose 20 kilos but I've done it,' he says.
'It's just a matter of being sensible and really health-conscious and I've got to say I
