Jacqui Lambie criticises Anthony Albanese’s unofficial firing of election starting gun

With Anthony Albanese starting the new year with a multistate tour, a senator has slammed his election blitz as “bizarre”.

Jacqui Lambie has criticised the timing of Anthony Albanese’s campaigning, calling his behaviour “really bizarre”.

The Prime Minister has effectively fired the starting gun ahead of this year’s federal election, announcing a multistate blitz, visiting Queensland, Western Australian and the Northern Territory in the upcoming week.

The independent senator for Tasmania said despite the election having not officially been announced, Mr Albanese’s interstate visits were poorly timed, as Australians preferred it when politicians “stay out of their face”.

Senator Jacqui Lambie said the timing of Anthony Albanese’s election bid is ‘really bizarre’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“You never see anybody run around campaigning during the Christmas period,” she said.

“The worst time to do it is the three weeks over the Christmas period. They just don’t like it very much.”

With a pending election set to be held on May 17 at the latest, and glib polling results, Mr Albanese will likely aim to target marginal Labor seats the government must retain in order to maintain a majority government.

Mr Albanese will kick off in Queensland, where he is expected to visit the Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton, Cairns and Mount Isa before visiting the Northern Territory, and ending his tour in the Kimberley and Perth a mere four weeks since his last visit.

Anthony Albanese will kick off 2025 with a three-state blitz to Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Picture: NewsWire/ John Appleyard

The pre-election blitz will focus on Labor’s infrastructure, health, child care and housing commitments, with Mr Albanese calling on voters to give his government another three years to “build on the foundations we have laid”.

“This election is a choice between building Australia’s future or taking Australia backwards,” he said.

“My government cares about Australians. That’s why we are delivering cost of living relief while strengthening Medicare and investing in infrastructure, childcare and dignified aged care.”

Politically, Labor will hope to maintain its 2022 post-Covid red wave in Western Australia in which it won four extra seats, while the Coalition lost six.

This included electorates formerly held by high-profile Liberal ministers like Christian Porter (Pearce), former Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt (Hasluck) and the blue ribbon seat of Tagney, which had been held by the Liberals since 1984.

Julie Bishop’s former seat of Curtin was also won by Teal independent Kate Chaney with a significant swing of 16.8 per cent.

Mr Albanese’s visit to regional Queensland also follows a Labor bloodbath in the 2024 state election, where it lost government after three terms.

While Labor holds both of the two electorates in the Northern Territory, it only narrowly holds the seat of Lingiari on a 0.9 per cent margin.

However, Solomon is on a safer margin of 9.4 per cent.

Essential Polling federally shows the Coalition leading Labor by 48 to 47 per cent, with the government dropping two points.

Mr Albanese’s net approval also dropped by six points to -11, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s net approval grew by two points to +3.