Former Prime Minister John Howard says Anthony Albanese is ‘completely out of his depth’

As election chatter ramps up, one of Australia’s most polarising leaders has dished out fighting words in an effort to shaft Anthony Albanese.

John Howard has delivered a brutal sledge about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese comparing him with “a piece of talking furniture” who is such a waffler that he often forgets what he’s said after watching him on television.

He also pushed back on a nickname which has surfaced for Peter Dutton: that he is a “Temu-Trump”.

Australia’s second longest serving Prime Minister, who is now 85, speaks to Mr Dutton about once a fortnight and – predictably – lavishes praise on him.

But it’s his take-no-prisoners approach to Mr Albanese that is raising eyebrows in a new profile outlining the life and times of the current Liberal leader.

“Albo is completely out of his depth, he really is in terrible shape,” Mr Howard told The Australian Financial Review.

“He doesn’t have any gravitas. You can’t take him seriously. When he speaks, you don’t listen. I often don’t recall what he says. I have to read about what he said. I don’t hear what he said.”

Mr Howard then went on to compare him with “a piece of talking furniture.”

Speaking on 3AW, the Prime Minister was asked about being compared with an inanimate wooden object but brushed it off.

“Well, John Howard’s a Liberal Party loyalist. I respect that,‘’ Mr Albanese said.

“I often find it very amusing that there’ll be a front page and I predict this in the national newspaper, there will be a front-page story saying, ‘Howard endorses Dutton’, as if that’s a surprise.

“Well, guess what? Julia Gillard and Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd, although Kevin’s out of it now, as an ambassador, will be voting Labor as well Steve Bracks and John Brumby and others.”

John Howard has delivered a brutal sledge about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese comparing him with ‘a piece of talking furniture’ who is such a waffler that he often forgets what he’s said after watching him on television. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

‘He doesn’t have any gravitas. You can’t take him seriously. When he speaks, you don’t listen. I often don’t recall what he says. I have to read about what he said. I don’t hear what he said.’ Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Conceding some voters are not big fans of Peter Dutton, Mr Howard notes in the AFR piece that it didn’t need to be a popularity competition.

“I never minded people saying, ‘I don’t like that Howard, I know what he believes in’ … People don’t rationalise it in those terms, but instinctively, they do want to know what you believe in and what you stand for, and he’s a very forthright person,” Mr Howard said.

“Nobody sort of liked [Malcolm] Fraser, a lot of people hated him, plenty of people. When I’d go out the door, I’d say to my wife ‘I’m off’. She said, ‘yeah, 50 per cent of the Australian population think you are off’. You’ve got to be realistic.”

While many political insiders had suggested “he won’t win, he won’t last”, Mr Howard said that Mr Dutton had been underestimated.

“He could [win the election],” Mr Howard said.

“I didn’t think he had any hope six months ago exactly, and I still think history is against it, but it’s better.”

“I’ve seen him in groups. He’s got a great capacity to sit and listen, absorb what people have said and go away without working out what his own view is, or without disclosing what he feels. Sometimes that’s deliberate, but whether it’s deliberate or not, it’s very effective,” he says.

While many political insiders had suggested “he won’t win, he won’t last”, Mr Howard said that Mr Dutton had been underestimated. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“He knows he doesn’t have to win every argument. You don’t as a leader. You’ve just got to listen to the conflicting points of view. And if different people go away with different views, and they all think, ‘I agree with the leader’, well, you’ve done your job.

“He does understand that as a leader, he’s got to spend time with people. If I gave him any advice, it was that. It was one of the great failings of Tony Abbott; Tony didn’t spend time with people. I think Malcolm did, but he spent most of that time telling them what they should believe.”

Mr Howard also dismissed suggestions that Mr Dutton was a ‘Trumpy’ or as some have described him Trump-lite or Temu-Trump. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Nickname

Mr Howard also dismissed suggestions that Mr Dutton was a “Trumpy” or as some have described him Trump-lite or Temu-Trump.

“People know where he stands, and they don’t want a fanatical demagogue as a prime minister,” Mr Howard. “I don’t think that he will ever be accused of being anything other than what he is”.

Mr Dutton also rejects recent attacks on his character in the lead up to the election.

“And if the Labor Party’s campaign is solely that Peter Dutton is a horrible person, and they don’t have any achievements to talk about, then they will lose in a landslide because people aren’t stupid,” Mr Dutton said.

“Australians aren’t going to be conned by that sort of propaganda. If Labor or their supporters think that that’s somehow going to sway votes, it’s not, it’s counter-productive and the longer they carry on with it, frankly, then the stronger our position becomes.”

Originally published as Former Prime Minister John Howard says Anthony Albanese is ‘completely out of his depth’