Anthony Albanese campaigning without Jacinta Allan in Victoria

Anthony Albanese is campaigning in Victoria without the state’s Labor Premier, but he has hosed down any suggestion it’s related to her dire recent polling.

Anthony Albanese is campaigning in Victoria on Wednesday — with a handful of crucial local seats up for grabs — but the Labor premier is nowhere to be seen.

The Prime Minister and Jacinta Allan held separate press conferences in Melbourne on Wednesday, with Mr Albanese forced to downplayed concerns about Ms Allan having a negative impact ahead of the May 3 poll.

Labor insiders believe being associated with Ms Allan — whose popularity has taken a battering in recent polling — could be damaging to Mr Albanese’s re-election bid.

It comes as new polling showed support for Victorian Labor was sitting at a worrying 24 per cent, only a slight increase from when the party’s primary vote cratered to a record low of 22 per cent over the Christmas break.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is campaigning in Victoria without Jacinta Allan. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Albanese downplayed concerns about Ms Allan having a negative effect on Labor’s re-election prospects.

Asked why he was not out campaigning with the Victorian premier, Mr Albanese said: “parliament is sitting”.

He rejected the claim he lacked confidence in the Allan government and may need to disassociate himself from her.

“I work closely with all state and territory governments and have a good relationship with every Premier and chief minister, including Jacinta Allan,” he said.

“What we’ll do is continue to put our positive agenda. Victorians have a real choice at this election.”

At her press conference, Ms Allan dodged several questions and refused to say whether she will campaign with Mr Albanese, who has already been seen alongside Labor Premiers Peter Malinauskas and Roger Cook.

She dismissed questions about the latest polling, instead repeating that she is “focused on the Victorian community, on working people and families”.

“I’ll be proud to fight for Labor because I’m fighting for Victoria,” she said.

Asked whether the Prime Minister was avoiding her, or whether she had received a directive from federal Labor to steer clear of the campaign trail, Ms Allan pointed to the fact she had parliament this week.

“I’ve been speaking to the Prime Minister regularly as recently as this week. We’ve already had a number of public engagements here in Victoria over this year,” she said.

Mr Albanese and Ms Allan arrive at the Victorian Labor Party conference in 2024. Picture: David Crosling

But asked repeatedly why she wouldn’t commit to joining the campaign trail when Mr Albanese is next in town, Ms Allan said: “I’ll be looking forward to supporting the Prime Minister and federal Labor.”

“Can we just step back for a minute? Step back for a minute … Let’s remember we’re in the middle of a federal election campaign. We will support the work of federal Labor because it is supporting Victorians,” she added.

“I’m not here to announce the Prime Minister’s schedule during a federal election campaign but again I’m assuming you’re asking Brad Battin

Asked whether the state government was a drag on federal Labor’s hopes of a second term in government, Ms Allan said: “If you look at my priorities, if you look at the Prime Minister’s priorities, they are the same.”

Pollsters expect a handful of key seats in Victoria could decide the fate of the 2025 federal election, with both Mr Albanese and federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to target the state heavily.

Both Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton spent Tuesday night in Melbourne.

Ms Allan said she didn’t catch up with the Prime Minister on Tuesday night because she was at parliament and had other engagements.