Anthony Albanese has pledged to reform the way power is divided up between states, territories and the Commonwealth if he wins the federal election, saying there needs to be clearer delineation over who is responsible for what.
It comes as Australia’s potential next Prime Minister was asked to pitch himself to people who might better recognise West Australian Premier Mark McGowan.
In a wide-ranging speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, Mr Albanese promised Federation reform in Australia, saying the country were starting to go backwards.
“After decades of moving towards more national consistency, where technology helping us steadily overcome the distances on our vast continent, what we’ve seen in recent times is the reversal of what we all thought was a once inexorable trend,” he said.
“I will change that. I will work with all state and territory leaders regardless of their political persuasion, to advance Australia’s common interest for the benefit of all.”
Mr Albanese was asked to provide some detail to his plan and how it could work, but he was unable to.
He said he had been speaking to premiers off-the-record and wanted to work with them rather than tell them what to do.
“You can’t say that you want to work with the states and territories and then impose things from the Commonwealth,” he said.
“We need a clearer delineation of who is responsible for what.”
He said the federal government had responsibility for aged care but accused them of trying to push responsibility off to the states.
“We have national cabinet, where the state premiers all come, they tell each other what they’re doing and then Scott Morrison announces it and pretends that there’s some uniformity there,” he said.
Due to premiers making key decisions about Covid rules during the pandemic, Mr Albanese was later asked how he would pitch himself to people who might better recognise Western Australia’s premier.
“So for all those people who do know Mark McGowan more than they know you, who is Anthony Albanese?” he was asked
“Anthony Albanese is the son of a single mum, who grew up in council housing in Camperdown,” he said.
He then told the story of how a conservative group was elected to Sydney City Council and tried to sell his house, but he campaigned as a 12-year-old to stop it happening.
”It gave me a determination each and every day to help the people like I was growing up to have a better life,” he said.
Mr Albanese also used to his speech to promise $440m towards better ventilation, building upgrades and mental health support in schools should he win the election.
Under the plan, schools would be able to access grants to improve air quality by buying air purifiers, building more outdoor classrooms or replacing boarded-up windows.
“This is something the Morrison government should have already been doing to make sure schools are safe for our kids and teachers to return to,” Mr Albanese said.
“The states have done a great job in picking up the slack of the slackest government in living memory.”
Cabinet Minister Stuart Robert called on Labor to apologise for “seeking to politicise the reopening of schools”.
