Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says he “knew yesterday” the official cash rate and unemployment figures, but had “gone blank”.
Mr Albanese came under fire on Monday after he failed to answer questions from reporters about what the Reserve Bank of Australia’s official cash rate was, as well as the national unemployment figure.
Mr Albanese was unable to rattle off either figure – despite the official cash rate having remained unchanged at 0.10 since November 2020,
The four per cent unemployment figure is the lowest since 2008.
“I think it’s five … point … four. Sorry, I’m not sure what it is,” he said on Monday of the unemployment rate.
Later in the day Mr Albanese admitted he had “made a mistake”.
Speaking to Tasmanian radio on Tuesday morning, Mr Albanese said he was only human and the figures had slipped his mind.
“I knew it yesterday, I just went blank,” he told Triple M Hobart.
“But you know I fessed up, put my hand up and said that it was a mistake. I was concentrating on other things, but I’m not making excuses.
“Politicians don’t always get it right. I didn’t get it right. It wasn’t my best ever press conference.
“(But) I have accepted responsibility.”
Mr Albanese said he hoped people would not lose sight of the type of politician he was, and the type of Prime Minister he was aspiring to be.
“Politics does make a difference to people’s lives,” he said.
“People are doing it really tough at the moment, and the government needs to do better.”
Senior Labor frontbencher Penny Wong joined the chorus of support for Mr Albanese on Tuesday morning, saying she too had forgotten figures at times.
“He should have remembered. But he has fronted up and he has owned the mistake. When he makes a mistake he steps up and acknowledges it,” Senator Wong told ABC News.
“When people are put on the spot, sometimes it happens. I think leadership is about leadership, not about memory.
“This is a long campaign.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg criticised Mr Albanese for being so “desperate” as to seek comfort from former prime minister John Howard over an embarrassing gaffe on the first day of the campaign.
Mr Howard – who himself was once unable to answer a question about the official cash rate – was asked about Mr Albanese’s slip up and defended it.
“Is that a serious question? Okay well … so what,” Mr Howard said from Perth.
On Tuesday morning, the Treasurer said Mr Albanese must be “desperate” to seek comfort in the Liberal legend.
“John Howard, in his own words, said Anthony Albanese is not a very substantial politician and he’s seeking to sort of sneak into government, citing that he would govern like a John Howard or a Bob Hawke, which we know is false and fanciful,” Mr Frydenberg told Sky News on Tuesday.
Mr Frydenberg also questioned why Mr Albanese “hadn’t been listening” to the Treasurer’s budget night speech, in which the unemployment figure and cash rate were both mentioned on numerous occasions.
“He obviously wasn’t listening or didn’t want to hear the success that has occurred in the labour market,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said while he too had forgotten a figure, admitting it can “happen to all of us”, Mr Albanese’s slip was part of a bigger problem.
“In relation to Mr Albanese, I’m perhaps more concerned if I … see analysis by University of Melbourne economists that demonstrate that repeated claims by Mr Albanese about the way the labour market and jobs market work in Australia have been shown to be wrong,” Senator Birmingham told ABC News.
“These are repeated claims he’s made, not just a one-off mistake. It demonstrates that not only does he not have a plan for our economy, it’s that he doesn’t understand how the labour market works.”
