Anthony Albanese Scott Morrison election: Liberals confident because ‘no-one knows Albo’

Liberals are still confident of winning the election despite lagging in the polls – because Anthony Albanese is relatively unknown. 

Trade Minister Dan Tehan said most people in his regional seat of Wannon in south-west Victoria have barely even heard of the Labor leader after a 60 Minutes episode showed him failing to connect with voters in Tasmania.

‘The Leader of the Opposition is a complete unknown out amongst the general populous, and not many people know much about him,’ he told the ABC on Monday morning.

Mr Tehan said voters won’t want to risk a change of Government when the economic recovery from Covid is fragile and Australia faces the threat of an increasingly assertive China.

‘They begin to realise that given everything we’re dealing with that he’s got no background when it comes to national security, no background when it comes to the economy, and he’s been in parliament for 20 years,’ he said of Mr Albanese.

‘They’re going to be beginning to ask themselves do we want to risk that with the next three years given everything that we’re dealing with.’

Mr Tehan’s comments came after Labor maintained a 10-point lead over the Coalition on a two-party basis in Sunday’s Newspoll – but experts say this gap will tighten.

Mr Albanese also drew level with Mr Morrison as preferred prime minister for the first time in more than two years.  

With the election due in May, the Labor leader needs to win eight seats to form a majority government.

But Mr Morrison is a seasoned campaigner who will be relentlessly touring the country for the next two months trying to pick up votes.

Sunday night’s 60 Minutes episode accompanied Mr Albanese in Launceston, north Tasmania where he received a frosty reception from one local.

Host Karl Stefanovic asked the woman: ‘What do you think of the election coming up?’

Mr Albanese joked ‘I’m right here’ but the woman simply replied ‘no comment’.

‘People are brutal aren’t they on the road. What’s wrong with Albo,’ said Stefanovic.

The woman said: ‘He’s looking good, yeah. Lost weight’ in reference to his 18kg weight loss.

But then there was an awkward silence before Mr Albanese broke the ice by saying ‘good on ya’.   

Also in the programme, the Labor leader spoke at length about his ‘new look’ after dramatically transforming his physique by giving up alcohol for three months and cutting out carbs – all in the hope of being ‘match fit’ for the upcoming federal election battle. 

During the segment the 59-year-old was grilled on his opinion of Mr Morrison.

When asked if he thought the Prime Minister is a ‘liar’, he responded saying: ‘Scott Morrison’s got an issue with the truth.

‘He has said things to me that are simply untrue. He stood up in parliament. Why he did it is beyond me … and said that he texted me about where he was going when he went to Hawaii. That’s not true.’  

He said Australians had become ‘more cynical’ about the Liberal Party after enduring a pandemic, natural disasters and political scandals. 

‘You look at even the photo ops this time, whether it’s the shampooing hair or … dare I say it, the ukulele playing … the welding without lifting up the mask before you weld … people look at it and go, ah, that’s not really his job,’ he said. 

During an interview with 60 Minutes’ last month, Mr Morrison showed off his musical skills by playing the ukulele at the dinner table. 

The scene saw a tonne of backlash on social media, with many labelling it ‘awkward’ and ‘cringe’.

Mr Albanese also got personal as he opened up about his marriage break down with ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt.

The father-of-one split from his wife in 2019 after 19 years of marriage and 30 years together.

Mr Albanese shared how the break-up happened ‘out of the blue’, reavealling the hardest part for him was accepting it was over. 

‘I didn’t see it as ending. We’d spent Christmas together, I thought we would end our life together. That was the vision that I had.’ 

He has since found new love in girlfriend Jodie Haydon but was reluctant to share whether they were in love just yet. 

‘That’s something not for you, Karl. That’s something between me and Jodie.’

The pair met in early 2020 at a conference in Melbourne where Mr Albanese was speaking.

The Opposition leader asked the crowd if there were any fellow South Sydney fans present and finance worker Ms Haydon, who lives in his Grayndler electorate, shouted: ‘Up the Rabbitohs’.

He later introduced himself and they decided to go for a drink when they were back in Sydney.

Despite appearing in Women’s Weekly together, Mr Albanese said he was ‘protective’ of their relationship. 

‘I’m the one running for public office,’ he said.

‘Jodie has to put up with…if we’re out having dinner, put up with people coming up and photos and all of that. But it’s part of the deal, it’s part of who I am.’

During the interview Mr Albanese also gave insight into the family lie that shaped his childhood, sharing how his mother had lied to him about his father being dead. 

His mother Maryanne Ellery claimed his father died in a car crash after they had met overseas and wed.

It wasn’t until he was about 15 that his mother, who’d raised him by herself in public housing, revealed that the pair were never married and he was actually alive and living in Italy. 

It was several decades later, after his mother died, that he decided to seek out his father.

After battling to track him, he finally met his father Carlo Albanese in an Italian town called Barletta. 

Mr Albanese discovered he had a brother and sister and was stunned by the reception, given his father already had a family.

He returned several times with his family to visit Carlo, but he fell ill and died in January 2014.

In their final conversation together, Carlo told his son he was happy they had finally met.

The interview comes as the federal election due to be called soon after the budget is handed down in two weeks.

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