Anthony Albanese is facing the toughest five weeks of his life as he battles for the prime ministership on May 21, but he’s revealed the hardest job he’s ever had was a one-off during his university days.
Mr Albanese recalled the dayxjmtzyws he was paid to clean one of the abandoned wharves on Sydney Harbour.
Mr Albanese said he had “gone in with a high-powered hose”.
“The wharves had been abandoned at the time, we had to go in with high-powered hoses – they were really tall roofs,” Mr Albanese said.
“They hadn’t been used for a long time and we basically – I think back on it now, no occupational health and safety – we were hosing off pigeon poo probably decades old and it went all over us and it was a dreadful day.
“We did get paid for it. Three days’ work, but it was a pretty tough job.”
He also conceded there were days at Pancakes on the Rocks – where he worked in his younger years – which were “pretty tough”.
“I worked the Saturday night 11pm-7am shift on a Sunday morning. Not surprisingly, there were issues at 3 or 4am,” he said.
“It was a well paid job, but to tell the truth, the pancake mix got into your skin, and people knew that you had worked for two or three days afterwards that you had been there.
“It was a tough job.”
After a rocky start to the six-week campaign, Mr Albanese was notably more upbeat on Thursday as he once again pitched Labor’s healthcare policies in the Labor-held seat of Hunter.
Mr Albanese stood alongside hand-picked candidate Daniel Repacholi – who is seeking to take over from retiring incumbent Joel Fitzgibbon – and outlined his plan for better healthcare in the region.
Mr Albanese was further touting the $135m urgent care program he unveiled on Wednesday, to create 50 clinics aiming to keep people out of emergency departments.
The first clinic would be built in Cessnock, he said.
Mr Albanese used his press conference to outline Labor’s position on a number of other issues, including asylum seekers and boat turn backs.
The United Kingdom overnight had announced a five-year refugee resettlement deal and endorsement of boat turn backs.
The Labor leader was asked: “If people smugglers seek to take advantage of an incoming Labor government and send more boats, will you be tough on boat turn backs and will you consider an offshore resettlement deal’?”
“We will turn boats back,” Mr Albanese emphatically responded.
“Turning boats back means you don’t need offshore detention.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison hit out at Mr Albanese’s position on border protection at his own press conference, slamming him for having held “every position possible”.
“He has supported everything he has opposed, and he has opposed everything that he has supported,” Mr Morrison said.
“Anthony Albanese said that he could not ask someone to do something that he couldn’t do, and he was saying that meant boat turn backs.
“I designed the boat turn back policy. I implemented it. I stood up to criticism day after day after day.
“I stood firm on that policy … It worked.
“I’ll tell you who knows who I am, the people smugglers.”
