Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has engaged in a terse exchange with ABC Alice Springs presenter Stewart Brash, taking issue with his line of questioning and telling the presenter it’s not his job to “verbal” him.
Speaking on Brash’s radio program this morning, Albanese became testy when he was asked about people in the Northern Territory not voting.
“There was a conscious decision by the former government to discourage the capacity of people in remote communities to vote,” Albanese began before being interrupted by Brash.
“But people aren’t voting, they’re just not voting,” Brash said.
Huffing with frustration, Albanese began repeating his answer, saying his government rectified the Coalition’s decision, presumably referring to the Morrison government’s attempts to strengthen voter ID laws in a move that experts warned would disenfranchise remote voters.
Following further questions on NT-specific problems such as private contractors being brought in as corrections officers and the issue of overcrowding in the NT prison system, Albanese refused to say what advice he would give the NT government.
“I’m the prime minister, not Northern Territory chief minister,” Albanese said.
Later in the interview, Brash asked Albanese about the election, suggesting his and Labor’s popularity was sinking and suggesting first-term governments would usually be fairly confident of securing a second term.
The exchange went as follows:
Brash: “Isn’t it a bit dumbfounding that a first-term prime minister is claiming underdog status and … do you recognise that you’re a bit on the nose with the electorate?”
Albanese: “You’re verballing me there.”
Brash: “Well that’s my job.”
Albanese: ”No, no, no. It’s not actually, it’s not the job of the ABC. There’s enough other media outlets that engage in that.”
Brash: “But would you accept underdog status?”
Albanese: “I’m confident that we will form a majority government after the next election.”
Later, Brash quipped that he thought the PM would have a go at him for suggesting he was on the nose with the electorate, not for saying he was claiming underdog status.
Albanese snapped again, replying, “There’s enough people [who] join in. There’s a bit of the media – and the ABC join in on it sometimes, OK, I’ve got to say, where … ”
Brash interrupted before Albanese could finish his sentence, and the interview ended.
