Anthony Albanese hints at wedding date, tells struggling voters things will improve

As his government lurches from one crisis to the next, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dropped some clues on when his wedding to fiancee Jodie Haydon will be.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stared down the threat of another interest rate rise, promising Australians that “it is going to get better”.

Seeming to shrug off concerns shared by economists about an untamable inflation beast and the risk of another rate hike, the PM told News Corp he was confident the cost-of-living crisis would improve.

While Mr Albanese would not comment on how devastating another interest rate rise would be to Labor’s re-election chances, he said he felt confident his cost-of-living measures would deliver relief.

“It is going to get better,” he said. “And it’s going to get better because we have been very conscious about putting in place short-term cost-of-living relief that’s immediate in a way that makes the economy in the medium term better.

“We’ve deliberately designed our cost-of-living relief to provide support for people who most need it, without putting further pressure on inflation.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says things can only get better for cash-strapped Aussies battling the cost-of-living crisis. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

It is a confident call from the PM, who has previously been criticised for declaring in the 2022 election he could reduce power prices by $275.

The benefits he believes will help improve people’s lives include the Stage 3 tax cuts — inherited from the former Coalition government and redesigned.

Mr Albanese said the changes to the cuts had been “a difficult decision” for Labor to make, “but the right decision”.

“And as a direct result, every single Australian’s pay packet from this week has got larger, more cash for them in order to deal with cost-of-living pressures,” he said.

Mr Albanese brushed off the suggestion that bracket creep would erode the cuts, maintaining the relief would make “a real difference for people”.

He also refused to discuss the impact of another rate rise on Labor’s re-election prospects, saying rates were the domain of the Reserve Bank.

“What our job is to do is to reduce inflation — and we want it to moderate further,” he said. “We have reduced inflation to almost half of what it was, when we were elected to government.”

The $300 energy bill relief payment, increased superannuation and paid parental leave were also “designed in a way to make things better”, he said.

“Real wages have increased, more so than they did in the previous decade, almost a decade of office of the Coalition,” he said.

“So people are earning more and then getting to keep more of what they earn is very significant.

“And this week already, I have had people come up to me this morning and just say, thank you … I got an extra $180 in my pay, and that will make a substantial difference for people.”

Mr Albanese is proud of his government’s record on job creation. Picture: PMO

As for the government’s own budget papers showing how, even with tax cuts, personal income tax paid by Australians this financial year will be significantly higher than in 2020-2021, Mr Albanese said the figures reflected “more people in work” who were “earning more”.

“Since we’ve been in government, we have created more jobs on our watch than have been created by any first-term government or any government in Australian history,” he said.

“So (the figures) are an indication of just how much we’ve made a difference.

“Tax intake as a proportion of the national economy, peaked when Peter Dutton was the minister for revenue. It was higher than it is today.”

NO CASH SPLASH

Asked whether he would take personal responsibility if things got worse for families, Mr Albanese said he was more focused on ensuring “things got better”, but it would be without the “cash splashes” of the Coalition government.

Cash splashes — which he said had made inflation worse — would also not be a feature of the upcoming election campaign, he said.

He described the tax cuts as “relief” rather than a “cash splash” to help households pay the mortgage and bills

Mr Albanese slammed ‘imisinformation’ about renewable energy sources. Picture: Zoe Phillips

HOUSING CRISIS

Mr Albanese acknowledged the housing crisis facing many Australians, with young families struggling to buy their first home along with soaring rents.

He said cities such as Sydney needed to embrace higher densities, pointing to the long-neglected “appalling” thoroughfares such as Parramatta Rd as sites that should accommodate more homes.

“This is a problem of neglect of a long period of time,” he said. “We need more, higher density, where it’s appropriate, around railway stations, around transport corridors.

“We want to help developers to build rental homes, particularly for affordable housing.

“We need to take every opportunity to increase housing supply.”

He acknowledged Sydney as it stood might change in appearance, but said that it was the price that had to be paid.

WIND FARMS

Among the challenges Labor will face electorally will be the revolt in some seats against renewable infrastructure, such as the community opposition in the federal Labor seat of Cunningham against a proposed offshore wind farm.

Questioned on whether he felt people underestimated the scale of the infrastructure required to deliver renewable energy, Mr Albanese blamed “misinformation” for the community opposition.

Mr Albanese and Jodie Haydon at the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House. Picture: Getty Images

LABOR RE-ELECTION

With an election looming and the release of the new draft boundaries, Labor has begun the process of selecting its candidates.

Mr Albanese would not be drawn on a date, beyond repeating his view three-year terms were “too short”.

“So the idea that I would run to an election next month is certainly not on my mind,” he said.

Asked what he felt was Labor’s “defining achievement” given the failure of the Voice to parliament, Mr Albanese nominated navigating the country through a “very difficult economic time”.

WEDDING PLANS

With the government having lurched from one crisis to the next — the latest being the bombshell resignation of Senator Fatima Payman — it looks unlikely Mr Albanese will be holding a wedding this term.

“We haven’t set a date for the wedding yet,” he said.

“Yeah, we are talking about it, but the diary is pretty full, I’ve got to say.”

While stressing that he did not take an election for granted, he said a wedding could be “in the second term”.

“We haven’t finally determined the date yet. We have no intention of having an elaborate, over-the-top wedding”.

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Anthony Albanese hints at wedding date, tells struggling voters things will improve