‘Smug, low-rent, liar’: Labor gets personal in election fight

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has used an unofficial Labor campaign rally to take a personal swipe at the Prime Minister.

The federal election is set to get personal, as Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese used an unofficial election campaign rally to shape it as a contest of personalities, painting his opponent as “smug and a liar”.

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles used the words “lies”, “liar” and “lying” 26 times while referring to Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the rally, while Mr Albanese accused him of “cuddling up to anti-vaxxers and giving comfort to extremists”.

But Mr Morrison hit back, saying while the Opposition was campaigning in the inner city, he was in the NSW regions speaking about the impact the floods were having on their properties.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese delivers a speech to Labor supporters around his plans for Australia's future in Ashfield, Sydney. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone/NCA NewsWire

Mr Marles said the election would be a contest between two people and their character.

“Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister, is just a character from a low rent, late night commercial,” he said.

“Australia needs a leader, not a liar.”

The Opposition Leader said Australia could not afford another three years of division and inaction.

“He chooses to divide. He chooses to play politics. He chooses to pit people against each other. To pit state against state,” Mr Albanese said.

He said a Labor government would be focused on an economy driven by renewable energy, investing in TAFE and university, job security, cheaper child care and Indigenous constitutional recognition.

Mr Morrison said he was in the regions listening to people who had been impacted by the floods.

“Someone else is campaigning and politicking back in the inner city and we’re here out in Central Western New South Wales listening carefully to the impact that these floods have had on their properties and on their futures,” he said.

He said his government would work with the Queensland government to tailor support to help farmers hit by the floods “get back on their feet”.

Seizing on Covid restriction fatigue, Mr Morrison said Australians wanted government out of their lives.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australians want government out of their lives and to “get back in the driver’s seat”. Picture: Tim Hunter

“I think Australians have had a gut full of government and their lives over the last few years, and they’re looking forward to getting back in the driver’s seat,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles said Labor would not consider a coalition with the Greens, who have a 75 per cent emissions reduction target for 2030, in the event of a minority government.

“We’ve made it clear we are not going to enter into a coalition with the Greens,” he said.

“We are going to seek, through policies like this and others, a mandate to govern in our own right.”

The Federal Government is ramping up their attacks in the wake of Labor announcing its 2030 emissions reduction target of 43 per cent, to be achieved by a carbon credit cap-and-trade scheme for the 215 biggest emitters.

Originally published as ‘Smug, low-rent, liar’: Labor gets personal in election fight