Anthony Albanese has attempted to flip his broken tax promises into a positive, declaring it proof he has the “ticker” for reform and dismissing his critics as “predictable and barely coherent”.
The Prime Minister was cheered on by a crowd of party faithful at an annual Labor party conference in Sydney, as he fired up over his controversial Budget changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax that came into effect last week.
“At auctions all over Australia, for the first time in a generation first home buyers are getting a fair crack,” Mr Albanese declared.
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“Calling for reform is easy. Delivering it is hard. My colleagues and I knew that there would be bumps in the road.
“But if you put the entirely predictable and barely coherent noise from the usual suspects to one side, one feature of the current debate has really stood out to me.
“No one has argued that the housing market was working fine the way it was. No one has been able to say that the status quo was fair or reasonable or sustainable for the future.”
Australia’s auction clearance rate dropped below 50 per cent nationally for the third straight week, according to Cotality, with a clearance rate of 51.6 per cent in Sydney and 54.6 per cent in Melbourne.
In Perth, where auctions are rarer, only three of nine properties listed for auction sold. A fourth was sold prior to auction. Two were withdrawn.
Mr Albanese maintained reform was necessary.
“If you don’t have the ticker, you can kick the can down the road and leave the problem to a future generation,” he said.
“Or you can do the hard thing, the right thing and fix it. That is the choice we have made.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Fiji. Credit: Anthony Albanese/Facebook
And he took a brutal swipe at his opponents over their own battle for the conservative vote, labelling the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation the “axis of grievance” and declaring the re-brand suggested by Liberal frontbencher Melissa McIntosh wouldn’t work.
“It is not their sales pitch, it is their policies,” the Prime Minister told the crowd, to applause.
“It is not what they call themselves, it is who they are. It is the race to the bottom that all three right-wing parties are caught up in.
“They are the axis of grievance. Each trying to be more anti-fairness, more anti-worker, more anti-aspiration.”
Manager of Opposition Business Dan Tehan struggled to brush off concerns about the threat of One Nation’s rising popularity on Sunday, when he failed to totally rule out a power-sharing deal with Pauline Hanson’s party – while insisting it is not what he wants.
“It is not even being talked about,” Mr Tehan told ABC Insiders. “We’re not entertaining, we’re not discussing, we’re not thinking about being part of a coalition with One Nation”.
Nationals Leader Matt Canavan said One Nation’s surge in opinion polls is the result of “legitimate grievances”, but that voters should lay the blame at the Albanese Government.
“The Prime Minister is actually captain status quo,” he told Sky News.
“He’s saying increasing taxes, increasing government spending, the same path we’ve been on, increasing intermittent solar and wind power, which has not worked.”
Nationals Leader Matt Canavan said One Nation’s surge in opinion polls is the result of “legitimate grievances”, but that voters should lay the blame at the Albanese Government. Pictured: Pauline Hanson. Credit: Martin Ollman NewsWire/NCA NewsWire
Mr Albanese landed in Fiji on Sunday night, to launch a tour of the Pacific aimed at shoring up relations against the rising influence of China.
He’s due to sign the Vuvale Union agreement with his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka on Monday and will then push on to the Solomon Islands on Tuesday to progress negotiations on a new treaty with Honiara.
Mr Albanese will become the first foreign leader to participate in Solomon Islands’ Independence Day celebrations, keen to spread the message that Australia is a nation the Pacific can rely on.
He will then host leaders from Papua New Guinea and Tonga in Brisbane, on his return to Australia on Wednesday as a breakthrough defence treaty with PNG comes into force.
And will use sports diplomacy to press Australia’s advantage.
“This important series of meetings in Brisbane comes at a time where we are working closely with our Pacific family on the issues that matter to our region,” Mr Albanese said.
“I am very much looking forward to hosting Pacific Leaders in Brisbane on Wednesday and attending the State of Origin with them.
“Through one of Australia’s favourite sporting codes, we are bringing our Pacific family closer together.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who will also take part in the Pacific trip, has previously described Australia as in a “state of permanent contest in the Pacific”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) with wife Jodie Haydon at the NSW Labor Annual State Conference. Credit: Nadir Kinani NewsWire/NCA NewsWire
The Albanese Government last week signed a $500 million Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu, ruling out the use of its territory for foreign military bases — 10 months after the deal nearly collapsed, over Australia’s push for a veto over foreign investment in critical infrastructure.
Lowy’s Pacific Program director Oliver Nobetau said this week’s visit signals new momentum.
“Albanese, despite all the domestic pressures, sees that this is a permanent contest, and he’s willing to make those strides and those commitments and build those relationships out in the Pacific,” he told AAP.
“Permanent contest, it is a good framing because it doesn’t allow for anyone to take things for granted as to where the goodwill of the relationships are.”
