Anthony Albanese skips voice referendum, Indigenous Australians in 2023 wrap

The Coalition has launched a pre-Christmas attack against Anthony Albanese for failing to mention the referendum or Indigenous Australians in his end-of-year wrap.

The opposition has accused Anthony Albanese of ‘airbrushing’ the defeated voice referendum. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Coalition has launched a pre-Christmas attack against Anthony Albanese for failing to mention the voice referendum or his government’s plan for Indigenous Australians in his 2023 end-of-year wrap, accusing the Prime Minister of “airbrushing” the defeated vote.

Mr Albanese shared the nearly two-and-a-half-minute video on his social media channels on the weekend with the caption “looking back on 2023”, wishing Australians the best for Christmas and the happiest of New Years.

In the wrap, Mr Albanese talks about natural disasters, global inflation and cost-of-living pressures but most of the video is spent referencing the government’s achievements – such as cheaper childcare, more jobs and fee-free TAFE.

Looking back on 2023. pic.twitter.com/JZhD0YFq5f

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 15, 2023

The October 14 referendum, which was rejected by 60.6 per cent of Australians and was arguably the biggest political event of the year, isn’t mentioned.

Acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said Mr Albanese had given himself full marks for 2023, but added: “The fact he omitted his failed and divisive referendum from his year in review tells you everything you need to know.

“This year the Prime Minister has been called Airbus Albo by many, well today, be it on cost-of-living or the referendum, we are now seeing ‘Airbrush Albo’. Australians deserve more than this selective airbrushing from their national leader.”

The opposition’s Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – who, like many of her Coalition colleagues, was vehemently against the referendum and campaigned across the country to defeat it – said Mr Albanese couldn’t “list a single thing” he’d done for Indigenous Australians “because all he has done this year is fail us”.

“The PM and (Indigenous Australians) Minister (Linda) Burney have no plan, no answers, and they’ve both been missing in action since Australia’s unambiguous rejection of Labor’s divisive voice in October,” she said.

“The only thing rising faster than interest rates under Labor is the hot air coming from the PM.”

The Prime Minister’s spokeswoman said the government had kept its pledge to hold a referendum but didn’t clarify if its omission from the video was an oversight.

“Sneaky Sussan doesn’t like to hear about how we’re responsibly helping Australians because she desperately wants them to forget the No-alition she helps lead has opposed this help at every turn,” the spokeswoman said.

“We know people are doing it tough, that’s why we’ve delivered $23bn in responsible cost-of-living relief, strengthened the budget, delivered the first surplus in 15 years and created more than 700,000 jobs since we came to office – all without adding to inflation.”

Government sources said Labor was delivering for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through a suite of measures, including by replacing the “failed” remote work for the dole program with one “that is about real jobs and real wages”, improving water supply and treatment in remote communities and investing in basic services in homelands for the first time in many years.

Mr Albanese, who with Ms Burney is working on a road map for Indigenous Australia to be unveiled early in the new year, also faced criticism on the weekend for tasting expensive wine while on a four-day holiday in Western Australia’s Margaret River.

Cabinet minister Don Farrell defended the Prime Minister’s mini break, saying it was “eminently reasonable” after he worked hard this year.

The South Australian senator labelled Coalition accusations that Mr Albanese was out-of-touch with cost-of-living pressures being felt by everyday Australians for tasting a $500 bottle of wine as “outrageous”.

“The Prime Minister has worked really, really hard this year,” Senator Farrell told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda.

“He’s taking just a few days off and he’s decided to go to Western Australia to the Margaret River. I think that’s eminently reasonable. And if I was a Western Australian senator, I certainly wouldn’t be complaining about the Prime Minister spending some holidays, well deserved holidays in my home state.”

Mr Albanese returned to work last Friday and plans to work over Christmas.