Albanese derails claim to competence on day one

Anthony Albanese’s apology for not knowing the unemployment rate (4 per cent) and the Reserve Bank’s cash rate (0.1 per cent) was his only political option after the astonishing gaps in his knowledge were exposed on the first full day of the campaign. Admitting he “made a mistake” because “I’m human” is not the point. For voters, unemployment and interest rates mean far more than economic statistics. They determine living standards, quality of life and peace of mind. The prospect of a family member being unable to find a job or home mortgage repayments doubling or trebling causes deep anxiety for most people. For families and individuals, such issues are not primarily about “the economy”. They are about how they live, whether they can hold on to their home, run a car, what is in their wallet, how they shop for themselves and their children, whether they can afford to visit the pub or enjoy a weekend outing.

The unemployment rate is also vital for the wider society. The fall in the jobless rate is saving taxpayers $11bn in welfare benefits across four years. Counsellors have long known that a job is the best form of welfare. Work provides purpose, independence and a sense of self-respect that can never be found on Centrelink handouts. Interest rates are also crucial to homebuyers, business borrowers, those on fixed incomes, and credit card holders.

The most worrying feature of Mr Albanese’s exchange with journalists in the marginal seat of Bass in Tasmania on Monday morning was not that he stumbled or inadvertently gave the wrong figure when asked about unemployment: “I think it’s 5.4. Sorry. I’m not sure what it is.” What mattered was that he did not know. And not knowing suggested incompetence. The basic facts that shape Australians’ everyday lives should be front and centre of mind for senior members on both sides of federal politics – especially for an Opposition Leader aspiring to take the reins of the nation’s economic management in six weeks and promising he can do better than the Coalition.

Mr Albanese compounded the damage when he later tried to show he was in touch with voters, boasting that he knew the prices of bread, milk and petrol (although the figure he gave predated the excise cut). A gotcha question about those costs stumped Scott Morrison at the National Press Club in February. But they are less important to the political debate than unemployment and interest rates. Those trends are as vital to the stock-in-trade of political leaders as stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors are for doctors.

Supporters of both major parties expect competent economic management from those they vote in. Mr Albanese now has a question mark over his head on that score. In view of the Morrison government’s economic success story and to avoid repeating Labor’s mistakes from the 2019 campaign, Mr Albanese has made the opposition a small target. He has copied and rubber-stamped Coalition policies on everything from cost-of-living relief in the budget to the upcoming stage three personal tax cuts. Due to begin in 2024-25, these will mean everyone earning between $45,000 and $200,000 will pay a top marginal rate of 30 per cent. Had the opposition formulated its own economic policies, Mr Albanese would not have been able to skate over the detail.

But it beggars belief that he derailed his claim to competence by drawing a blank on unemployment and interest rates. The cash rate is in the news, with the RBA warning that interest rates are set to rise. Unemployment, the Prime Minister and Josh Frydenberg repeatedly have told parliament, a metre or two from Mr Albanese across the dispatch box, is at a 48-year low. Treasury and the RBA predict it will have a prefix of 3 later this year. Falling unemployment also featured prominently in the Treasurer’s budget speech. Mr Albanese’s budget reply speech, in contrast, did not mention it. While some politicians make the mistake of drowning in data, Mr Albanese’s speech was curiously devoid of economic detail.

Jobs growth and interest rates should be top priorities for a party ostensibly devoted to the interests of working men and women. Low unemployment encourages wages growth. Mr Albanese and his Treasury spokesman, Jim Chalmers, are also intent on other aspects of workplace relations. The unemployment rate did not tell the full story of the labour market, Dr Chalmers said in February: “We need to care about job security. We need to care about wages growth. We need to care about underemployment and all of these sorts of issues.’’ He added: “We want unemployment to be as low as possible.”

Voters will judge what Mr Albanese’s responses on Monday reveal about his capacity to lead the nation and his claims he can do it better than the government. He has promised to create more secure jobs and higher wages through productivity gains but has yet to give details. The gaps in Mr Albanese’s basic knowledge reveal more about his economic credentials than his ad telling voters he has an economics degree or the undergraduate economics paper he tried to table in parliament.