Rita Panahi: Voters deserves to know Albanese’s genuine worldview

Anthony Albanese should try to get elected advocating for what he actually believes in, rather than pretending to be a centrist who’s tough on borders, anti-woke and strong on China.

He really doesn’t know his a--e from his Albo.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese was all at sea, excuse the pun, again on Friday about his party’s border protection policies.

One minute he was saying Australia had no need for offshore detention facilities and the next he was saying we do have a need and that he backs the nation’s border protection policies unconditionally.

“We will turn boats back,” Mr Albanese told reporters on Thursday. “Turning boats back means that you don’t need offshore detention.”

Just hours later Albanese was forced to clarify Labor’s position.

“Our position is clear. We continue to support them (off shore detention),” he said.

The gaffe was all the more damaging because border protection is a dangerous issue for Labor and particularly the Labor leader.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has had a horror start to the election campaign. Picture: Toby Zerna

Last time they came to power after a long Liberal reign they systematically dismantled the Howard era policies that had stopped the evil people smuggler’s trade.

They dismantled policies that worked in the name of compassion and then they filled detention centres with tens of thousands of asylum seekers and more than a thousand men, women and children drowned trying to reach our shores on leaky boats.

And, when Labor finally, kicking and screaming, were forced to admit that the policies implemented by the Abbott government had stopped the boats, there was one notable member of the team who steadfastly refused to support boat turn backs and other tough measures.

As late as 2015 Albanese was publicly against the policies he now pretends to support.

He said: “When we talk about boats of course we’re talking about people on boats. I’m of the view, I would just find it … I couldn’t ask someone else to do something that I couldn’t see myself doing. If people were in a boat including families and children, I myself couldn’t turn that around.”

On Friday the prime minister seized on Albo’s latest blunder.

“He has supported everything he has opposed and he has opposed everything that he has supported. We have seen that across so many issues,” Scott Morrison said on Thursday.

Albanese – who after spending decades in the hard Left socialist faction of the party wants the electorate to believe he is some fiscally conservative John Howard clone – has had a horror start to the election campaign.

Here’s a novel idea; how about Albo try to get elected advocating for what he actually believes in rather than pretending to be a centrist who’s tough on borders, anti-woke and strong on China.

The electorate respects authenticity and they deserve to know the genuine worldview of the man who wants to be the next prime minister of Australia.