Shorten warns Albanese against energy mistake
Bill Shorten says Tanya Plibersek’s rhetoric is what voters want to hear, but insists Anthony Albanese retains his backing.
Anthony Albanese should focus on job creation amid internal rumblings over its energy policy, according to his predecessor Bill Shorten.
Mr Shorten led Labor to a shock loss in the 2019 election with an energy platform he concedes was “able to be portrayed as threatening jobs”.
In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, Mr Shorten insisted Mr Albanese was doing a “good job” in trying circumstances, but warned his successor against making the same mistake.
“If people aren’t voting for us, then what we’ve got to do is get their vote. If job security is their priority, then that’s what matters,” he said.
Joel Fitzgibbon resigned from the Labor frontbench last week, claiming the party’s climate policy had alienated its blue-collar base. He called for Climate and Energy Minister Mark Butler to be moved on after seven years in the portfolio.
Mr Shorten said Labor had lessons to learn from Mr Fitzgibbon’s resignation, but stopped short of calling for Mr Butler to go.
“I’m not sure that trying to blame individuals gets us anywhere. Climate change is an important issue,” he said.
“I do accept that Joel is hearing from people in his electorate who are worried about their job security.
“We’ve got to make sure that everything we say on climate also reassures people about their jobs.
“I notice my colleague Tanya Plibersek saying we need to double down on our commitment to full employment. That’s something I believe, it’s in my DNA.”
He was then pushed on whether Ms Plibersek would make a good leader.
“I’m not going to bite on that. We’ve got a leader, he’s doing a good job. I know when I was leader, I would have loved my shadow ministers to get in behind me,” Mr Shorten replied.
But he insists “no complaints” over discipline under his leadership.