Plibersek laughs off Albanese’s hug block
One moment you might have missed during Labor’s campaign launch yesterday was when the prime minister seemed to block a hug from Tanya Plibersek, as he greeted members of his frontbench in the crowd (Jim Chalmers gave him a backslap while the former PM Julia Gillard shook his hand and Albanese held her arm up in the air.)
But when it came to Plibersek, the environment minister went in for a hug and a kiss – and Albanese grabbed both her hands to block her from getting any closer.
It was a little awkward.
Plibersek was asked about the moment on Sunrise, who said she should have “done the elbow-bump”.
I reckon we should still all be elbow-bumping. During an election campaign, the last thing you want is to catch a cold from someone. So that’s on me. I should’ve done the elbow-bump, I reckon.
Asked if she and PM still get on, she said:
Yeah, of course!
Still buddies?
We’re buddies!
You can watch the exchange below:
Key events
Paterson: criticism of Coalition’s housing policy by economists, “out of touch”
A little earlier, Coalition campaign spokesperson James Paterson told ABC News Breakfast their policies to help on housing and cost of living are “targeted” and “meaningful”.
The major parties have entered a high-spend bidding war over cost of living support and housing.
But economists and experts have expressed concerns that the policies don’t adequately address the supply side of the housing crisis, and could drive prices up. Paterson says that criticism comes across as “out of touch”.
I have seen some of the commentary from economists and others, and I have to say when it comes from someone who owns their own home and probably bought it many years ago, it’s going to come across to many Australians as, frankly, pretty out of touch and tone-deaf. I think people underestimate the generational despair among young Australians who’ve lost hope that they’ll ever be able to buy a home.
