Anthony Albanese borrows Tony Abbott strategy with controversial costings delay

Albanese sensationally fled from his own press conference after refusing to reveal how much his election promises will cost taxpayers, but he’s not the first hopeful to hold off on the details.

Anthony Albanese sensationally fled from his own press conference Tuesday after refusing to answer multiple questions from journalists in Perth about how much his election promises will cost taxpayers.

The dramatic scene, which left a startled WA Premier Mark McGowan standing awkwardly at the podium as the press pack pursued the opposition leader, came amid increasing pressure on the Labor leader to bring forward his planned Thursday release of his party’s figures.

As Mr Albanese fled with his staff, Sky News Australia reporter Jonathan Lea could be heard saying, “We are following you for answers Mr Albanese and you are now just not giving them … you have to answer eventually.”

Already more than 900,000 postal votes have been returned with a further 1.27 million Australians voting pre-poll as of the end of last week, meaning that millions of voters have made their choice without being fully informed of each major party’s budget costings.

On Tuesday, the Coalition released its own costings, claiming $1 billion in savings.

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese fled from a press conference after refusing to release costings. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

However the Labor leader remained adamant that he would not release his party’s costings until Thursday despite at the start of the campaign insisting “all of our policies that we’ve released have been fully costed.”

Mr Albanese said he was embracing the model used by former prime minister Tony Abbott, who also only controversially released his costings two days out from the election in 2013.

At the time, then-Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd lambasted Mr Abbott, calling him “evasive.”

Speaking before a pre-election debate on August 11, 2013, Mr Rudd said, “Based on today’s polls if there was an election yesterday Mr Abbott would be prime minister today and therefore he can’t be evasive tonight about where his $70 billion in cuts in heath, education and jobs will fall.”

Mr Albanese insists he’s following the Tony Abbott model. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The awkward performance came amid signs that the Labor campaign was hitting stumbling blocks in the final days of the campaign.

Polling from the western Sydney seat of Fowler indicated that parachute pick Kristina Keneally was deeply unpopular in the community, while the latest Roy Morgan poll found that Labor’s two-party preferred support had come in to 53-47, with primary support for both parties tied at 34 per cent.

With Labor refusing to release its policy costings until Thursday, the Coalition has seized on the vacuum and completed its own analysis of the opposition’s costings, claiming there would be a $20 billion deficit in Mr Albanese’s numbers.

The figure was based on $25bn worth of spending promises, compared to only $5bn in revenue or savings measures.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said it was “astounding” the Labor leader wouldn’t answer questions about the budget bottom line.

“While our Government is improving the budget bottom line by $104 billion, Anthony Albanese is splashing cash all over the place,” he said.

“Labor’s reckless spending will add extra pressures that mean Australians pay via higher taxes and interest rates.”

Earlier Mr Albanese addressed a room of WA business and community leaders, including media magnate Kerry Stokes and Mr McGowan to make his pitch to the west where Labor is hoping to secure up to three seats.

Asked win or lose, what would his “legacy” be, Mr Albanese said “acting on climate”.

But he also said he would not push for higher emissions reductions targets than currently announced.

During the speech, Mr Albanese referred to Mr McGowan a total of seven times in an effort to highlight the connection with the extremely popular state leader.