Anthony Albanese ‘grilled’ by teen journalists

A surprised Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has been forced to defend himself after a grilling by two teen journalists.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has been forced to defend himself after a grilling by two teenage journalists.

Mr Albanese appeared in a new video posted Tuesday night alongside Leonardo Puglisi, who founded 6 News when he was in primary school, and political reporter Roman Mackinnon.

The pair received headlines after a fiery interview with Prime Minister Scott Morrison about his “lies and falsehoods” last month.

In their latest interview, Labor leader Mr Albanese defended walking out of a press conference after eight minutes despite previously claiming he is “not Scott Morrison”, didn’t “run away from press conferences” and that every journalist would have an opportunity to ask a question.

Political reporter Roman Mackinnon asks Mr Albanese if he has already “broken his promise”.

The press conference, on April 13, was originally scheduled for 15 minutes after Mr Albanese delivered a speech at the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation in Melbourne.

Instead, it ended early with Mr Albanese walking off.

A journalist could be heard saying, “you said you’d take all questions”.

“Mr Albanese, why aren’t you taking all the questions like you’ve agreed to?” he was asked.

During his interview with 6 News, when asked if he had” broken his promise”, Mr Albanese responded somewhat surprised: “Not at all.”

“I never said I’d answer every question forever,” Mr Albanese joked.

Mr Albanese said that day in question he had done a “major speech” and wasn’t scheduled to hold a press conference, but did any way.

“That day I’d done a major speech and indeed we weren’t scheduled to hold a press conference. I held a press conference after the major speech, often when you give a big speech that’s what you want to get the run.

“We had an important speech at the Nurses Federation in Melbourne and I was the first leader of any political party to address a Nurses Federation after I became Labor leader.

“It was an opportunity for us to talk about our plan for aged care, our plan to strengthen Medicare and that was what the emphasis was on

“I have held a press conference every day of the campaign except for when I went down with Covid, and that’s something the Prime Minister hasn’t done.”

Leonardo Puglisi with the Opposition leader.

Mr Albanese filmed the interview during day three of his Covid-19 isolation, and said it had been “a bit difficult, but I’ve got it so much better than others I know who have had really severe symptoms”.

“I’m going OK so far but it’s not a pleasant experience, I’ve got to say that. It’s certainly not one I was anticipating having in the middle of an election campaign but we live in interest times in 2022.”

In a piece for Crikey, Puglisi said the interview was “polite, respectful and in-depth”.

“We asked the tough questions and pushed for answers, but also let Albanese respond without cutting him off.