Anthony Albanese seeks reset at first press club appearance as Prime Minister

Anthony Albanese has vowed to rebuild trust, hitting out at the former Prime Minister for being “obsessed with secrecy”.

Anthony Albanese has vowed to rebuild trust with Australians declaring he doesn’t share the same “self-loathing” ideology of Scott Morrison.

In his first address to the National Press Club as Prime Minister, Mr Albanese came armed with a laundry list of his government’s achievements over its first 100 days.

Key achievements in climate targets, flood support, minimum wage increases and moving on paid domestic violence leave were celebrated as proof Labor had “hit the ground running”.

“Our government is only 100 days into this journey but we are resolved on the destination of a better future,” he said.

Anthony Albanese address the press club for the first time as Prime Minister. NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The Prime Minister outlined his vision for renewal and reform, indicating this week’s upcoming job summit was just the start of the government’s focus on building a better Australia.

“Whether it‘s educational skills or healthcare or aged care, we can’t just stem the bleeding and hope for the best. We can’t return to business as usual when we know that business as usual was simply not good enough,” Mr Albanese said.

But he noted to do that he needed to rebuild trust after a decade of a government that had to be “shamed into doing the bare minimum at the last possible moment”.

“My colleagues and I don't share the strange self-loathing of our predecessors, raging against the role of government while in government,” Mr Albanese said.

“Australians have placed their trust in our new Labor government and I thank them for it. We are determined to repay that trust by demonstrating a commitment to transparency and integrity.”

While the Prime Minister did not refer to Scott Morrison by name, he made a number of references to his predecessor’s secret ministry scandal, once again accusing him of trashing cabinet processes.

Mr Albanese has had a crack at his predecessor in a major speech. NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“Cabinet isn’t power point presentations from pollsters. It’s for serious consideration of policy based upon advice from the public service. I think that will take time to rebuild,” Mr Albanese said.

Former High Court justice Virginia Bell has been tapped to lead the inquiry into Mr Morrison’s decision to secretly appoint himself to the health, finance, resources, home affairs and treasury portfolios from March 2020 to May 2021.

Mr Morrison has reportedly agreed to cooperate with the inquiry but declined to apologise to the Australian public in a series of lengthy Facebook posts.

Legal advice handed to Mr Albanese found Mr Morrison’s actions were legal but the power grab “fundamentally undermined” the principles of responsible government.

The Prime Minister said Australians expected his government to hold themselves “to a higher standard of behaviour than ‘it’s not illegal’”.

On reform, the Prime Minister acknowledged a major problem this government will have to address is how it will pay for pledged commitments to the National Disability Insurance Scheme and an aged care overhaul.

“If you look at the projections on what will be required over a period of time, with rising defence expenditure, the NDIS, a range of other expenditures that will be required, we need to have a debate about how we pay for that,” Mr Albanese said.

“The job of reform is never done. It’s not a date in which you come along here to the National Press Club, and I’ll have mission accomplished sign at the back there that says we’re done.”