Anthony Albanese opens up about his son, Nathan: ‘He’s my good luck charm’
Days out from the election, Anthony Albanese has revealed his “secret weapon” to become PM and the one phone call he makes every day.
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EXCLUSIVE
Anthony Albanese has declared Labor is “competitive” and he can win the election, revealing if he is elected Prime Minister he plans to leave Marrickville to live at the Lodge or Kirribilli House with his dog Toto.
And he’s foreshadowed a major shake-up of public service departments if he wins – that could trigger a cabinet reshuffle.
In an exclusive interview with news.com.au, the Labor leader said victory was not assured and he would be fighting for every vote until 6pm on Saturday.
“That’s what I’ll be doing. I’m certainly not taking anything for granted,” he said.
“We know that the polls were wrong in 2019. There was an assumption that there would be a change of government that did not come to fruition.”
But he revealed his neighbours, who had endured a heavy security presence during the election campaign, are unlikely to support police vans being permanently stationed in his suburban street.
“Well, I think that my neighbours might not like me staying in Marrickville due to the significant up in security that has had to occur during the campaign,’’ he said.
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“And one thing that I do know is that wherever I go, Toto will be going with me.
“But I’m not getting ahead of myself. We’re waiting to see what happens on the 21st of May. It’s not long to go now.”
Asked if he had any “good luck charms”, the Labor leader revealed he talked to his son Nathan, from his marriage to former NSW Labor MP Carmel Tebbutt, on the campaign trail.
“I do have a way of making sure that I talk to my son every day,’’ he said.
“And that to me is a good-luck charm. He’s still studying. He’s completing his degree. He’s 21.
“We’re close, we live together. He also spends time at his mother’s. But I’m very proud of him. He’s developed into a very fine young man, and he will be out there campaigning for me right up until Saturday at 6pm as well.”
Where Albo will live if he wins
For decades Australian prime ministers traditionally lived at the Lodge in Canberra until John Howard and Scott Morrison decamped to Kirribilli House on Sydney Harbour for family reasons.
With his son Nathan, 21, completing his studies in Sydney, Mr Albanese said it would be “presumptuous” to reveal where he planned to live full-time or whether his new partner Jodi would be moving in.
“I have not reached any conclusions on any matters that will pre-empt the result of the Australian people, I think to do that would be very presumptuous. And I will turn my attention to that if we are successful on Saturday,” he said.
“My job is to ensure that Labor maximises the vote, I am committed to working for a majority Labor government because of the stability that that brings. So I’ll be campaigning to get at least 76 Labor members of the House of Representatives elected next Saturday.”
No more curry nights?
It’s a little known fact that Prime Ministers secure not just a $550,000 salary and free housing at the Lodge in Kirribilli and the Lodge but also free dry-cleaning, toiletries, housekeeping staff, groceries and “sustenance entitlements.”
That means when you see Prime Minister Scott Morrison whipping up a curry for Facebook there’s a good chance some of the ingredients were bought and paid for by taxpayers.
However, the Prime Minister insists he or his wife Jenny often buy some of the ingredients at Asian supermarkets near Kirribilli.
Mr Albanese, who is famous for posting an image of meat and two veg – with the peas and corn carefully separated – says he won’t be posting curry pics if he wins or ending his practice of not letting his vegetables touch.
“I am very organised,” he laughs.
No deals with independents?
Mr Albanese has claimed he won’t “do deals” with the independents to form a government. But how realistic is it that he would decline the opportunity to govern if given the chance?
The Labor leader made it clear that he would not sign a formal agreement with the Greens or the so-called “teal independents” challenging the Liberals in leafy, inner-city seats.
However, he’s not ruling out accepting their votes for confidence and supply in the event that Labor was forced into a minority government.
“Well, it will be up to them to make a decision if those circumstances arise,’’ he said.
In other words, the independents could choose to support a Labor government but he would not sign an agreement.
“That’s absolutely right. I’ve ruled that out. We will govern in our own right. And that is the commitment that I’ve made — no deals,” he said.
“What happened in 2013, when I became the deputy prime minister under Kevin Rudd, was that independents and the crossbenchers had to make decisions the next day, potentially over whether they would support the government continuing or whether Tony Abbott would be installed as prime minister.
“And that is what I said to the crossbenchers at that time. I stand for the mandate that we’re putting forward at this election. We’ve got a strong policy agenda for a better future and they’re the policies we’ll stick with.
“We will stand on our own. But my commitment is to ensure there’s a majority Labor government elected this Saturday.”
Cabinet reshuffle
There’s an expectation that Anthony Albanese would shake up his frontbench if elected. There’s also the question of whether deputy Labor leader Richard Marles will exercise his prerogative to ask for a national security portfolio.
“What I’ve said is that my starting point would be that people who are in their current positions, that is our starting point,” he said.
“But we will examine the structure of the government as well and there may well be some changes in some departmental structures as well,” he said.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, though. I’ve been very clear about that.”
Mr Albanese declined to be drawn on when asked directly if Labor would dismantle the Home Affairs merger that was announced by Malcolm Turnbull in 2017.
The new Home Affairs portfolio brought together Australia’s immigration, border protection, law enforcement and domestic security agencies in a single portfolio.
At the time, Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles noted that neither ASIO nor any other agency had called for the change.
‘Complete nonsense’
However, Mr Marles has been plagued during the campaign with questions over his relationship with China.
Asked if Mr Marles had told him every time he was meeting with the Chinese ambassador since Mr Albanese became leader he dismissed the question.
“I think all of those comments and some of that commentary are complete nonsense,” he said.
“I have absolute faith in Richard Marles. He is a very good deputy leader and he will make a fine deputy prime minister.”
Asked if Labor had been warned by ASIO about meeting with the Chinese ambassador Mr Albanese said he didn’t plan to discuss national security briefings.
“You and I both know that I can’t comment on briefings from national security agencies,’’ he said.
“But you and I both also know that when issues were raised earlier this year, I sought permission from the director general of ASIO to say publicly that he has confirmed that there are no issues with any Labor member of parliament or any Labor candidate.”
Asked if it was unusual that Richard Marles has had 10 meetings with the Chinese Embassy and Penny Wong had far less during the same period, Mr Albanese said there was no issue.
“I’m not going to comment about issues which have been an attempt to smear someone who has also had significant numbers of meetings with the United States and with other embassies,’’ he said.
“The fact is that I have absolute faith in Richard Marles and he has at all times acted entirely appropriately.”
Childcare promise
Labor has pledged to lift the childcare subsidy rate to 90 per cent for the first child in childcare.
“We will make childcare cheaper for 96 per cent of families,’’ he said.
“And while that’s being implemented during our first term, we’ll have a Productivity Commission review that will examine whether you would move to a universal provision of 90 per cent to make childcare affordable.”
Asked if he will ever deliver “free” childcare Mr Albanese said that wasn’t the plan – for now.
“The objective is 90 per cent rather than 100 per cent. Okay, when that’s what we’ll ask the Productivity Commission to examine.”
$500,000 payout for Liberal staffer
During the election campaign the Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced questions over why a former Liberal staffer to Education Minister Alan Tudge and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash is negotiating a $500,000 payout.
Rachelle Miller, the staffer negotiating the payout, has waived her right to anonymity if the Morrison Government wants to detail what the payout is for.
Asked if Labor would make that transparent or indeed decline to payout the money if elected, Mr Albanese said he would take advice.
“We would seek advice. I’m not aware of all of the details of that and it wouldn’t be appropriate to make a declaration without full knowledge of the circumstances,” he said.
“I do know that Ms Miller has made a very clear comment towards the government about transparency but I’m not aware of all of the details and don’t seek to therefore politicise this issue without full knowledge of all of the facts.”
Originally published as Anthony Albanese opens up about his son, Nathan: ‘He’s my good luck charm’
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