The mystery of Anthony Albanese’s doctored White House transcript

It was Anthony Albanese’s rare moment on the world stage. So why did his office try to hide part of it? Tom Minear argues it’s part of a depressing trend.

Anthony Albanese will rarely have a moment in the spotlight like last week’s White House press conference with Joe Biden, which makes it all the more curious that his office cut some of it from the transcript.

Here’s what was missing, according to the transcript shared by the President’s staff. US reporter Joey Garrison, who grilled Biden with multiple questions, tried to ask Albanese something “regarding the Israel-Hamas war”. “Go get ‘em, Joe Joe,” the President said, but the Prime Minister moved on to another journalist.

The Australian version offered only Albanese’s rejection, apparently apropos of nothing: “We in Australia, I’ve managed to get it so we get one question each.”

Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese during their White House press conference. Picture: Brendan Smialowski (AFP)

That is the policy he has enforced since he was a deer in the headlights during last year’s election. So why leave out the exchange? Perhaps his office thought it was a bad look – and from my view in the Rose Garden, it certainly was.

Biden has held just nine press conferences this year, only two of which were by himself. Not since Ronald Reagan has a president been so averse to fronting to the press. And after his predecessor Donald Trump derided the media as the “enemy of the people”, it is little wonder American reporters are determined to assert their watchdog role.

But if Albanese’s staff were embarrassed, the PM wasn’t. The next day, Albanese complained about the behaviour of US reporters when the press conference was due to end.

“The circus began – they just started screaming. It was very strange,” he told politicians on Capitol Hill.

Albanese and Biden in the Oval Office. Picture: Brendan Smialowski (AFP)

“Our media can be difficult but they don’t do the random shouting that was going on, which happened in the Oval Office as well … I assume you just don’t answer – that’s what I would do.”

There you have it. So much for his pre-election vow that he would “change the way politics operates in this country” by avoiding soundbites and “actually answering questions”.

That had seemed a genuine promise, given Albanese’s apparent respect for democratic institutions. But his government has been depressingly allergic to scrutiny.

For instance, they have refused to release records of ministerial use of taxpayer-funded VIP jets, ending a decades-long precedent due to supposed security concerns even though details are usually published months after the flights.

Compare that to Biden, who revealed in advance that he was flying into an active war zone in Israel. Maybe Albanese could learn from him – or maybe he just gave him some ideas.

Originally published as The mystery of Anthony Albanese’s doctored White House transcript