Michael McGuire: Albanese and Morrison struggle on first full day of election campaign

One didn’t know basic economic details, the other yet again failed to tell the truth. Albanese and Morrison both had shocker first days, writes Michael McGuire.

When your political opponent is trying to paint you as too inexperienced to manage the Australian economy, that you are possibly even some kind of existential threat to its very existence, then perhaps, just perhaps, you should do a little extra study on the topic.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has been taunting Prime Minister Scott Morrison for months about calling the election as soon as possible.

How is it possible then for Albanese to look so ill-prepared, so early in a campaign he has spent years preparing to fight?

Albanese is trying to run a campaign based on jobs, wages growth and cost of living. He should know the national unemployment rate and he should know the Reserve Bank’s cash rate. It’s not too much to ask.

These are not “gotcha’’ questions. This is not even, how much is a litre of milk or a loaf of bread.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese visits Devonport, Tasmania on his first day of the federal election campaign. Picture: Toby Zerna

These are the basics. The RBA’s cash rate is the basis for how much banks charge for mortgages.

It’s a seriously low bar to hurdle. But perhaps another indication of just how far political leadership in Australia has fallen in the past 20 years.

That Albanese was then forced to spend the rest of the day cleaning up the mess he made was the worst way possible to spend the first proper day of the election campaign.

Already we have seen an indication of just how much nonsense is going to be uttered across the next six weeks.

Albanese suffered an instant credibility check, but Morrison was out there having his own ridiculous moments as well.

If Albanese erred by confirming the most predictable of Liberal attack lines, then Morrison wasn’t too far behind. One of Labor’s well-worn lines is Morrison’s trouble with telling the truth.

Morrison confirmed Sunday that Education Minister Alan Tudge was still Education Minister and not the former education minister that most had assumed.

A conclusion drawn from Morrison’s assertion in March that: “Today (Tudge) has informed me that in the interests of his family and his own wellbeing and in order to focus on his re-election as the member for Aston he is not seeking to return to the frontbench, and I support his decision.”

Scott Morrison at a manufacturing centre in South Nowra. Picture: Jason Edwards

Tudge had stepped down after his former staffer Rachelle Miller, with whom he had an affair, had accused him of abuse during the relationship.

An independent report said there was insufficient evidence that Tudge breached ministerial standards. Tudge had denied any wrongdoing.

But now Morrison was saying Tudge was still technically education minister.

“It means that he still has his warrant as a minister from the Governor-General. And as a result, he’s formally still the education minister.”

And to top it off, it was revealed yesterday that Rachelle Miller would receive a $500,000 taxpayer-funded payout as compensation for her treatment while working for Tudge. To no one’s surprise, Morrison said he didn’t know anything about that.

Of course, this is the same Morrison who on Sunday said one of his government’s problems was that it was too “upfront’’.

There have been many sins ascribed to the government of Scott Morrison. Literally no one has ever accused it of being too open and transparent.

But Morrison was on a roll in making up apparent sins that no one had ever previously noticed. On breakfast TV, in reply to a question about his greatest weakness, he replied he sometimes rubbed people up the wrong way because he moved into his default “fixer” mode.

“I tend to go straight into problem-solving mode,” he said.

This must have come as a surprise to those who have suffered through bushfires or floods, or were keen to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Or maybe he was just talking about doing Wordle.

Albanese answered the same question with: “I have found my biggest weakness is my loyalty.”

Which is clearly inaccurate. His biggest weakness is remembering economic numbers on the first day of an election campaign.

And, even if that was true, that’s not a great reflection on his profession. In most other areas of Australian life, loyalty is generally considered a strength.

But, chins up. Only another six weeks of this to go. If this is how we have started, the thought of where it will all end up is pretty grim indeed.