PM, minister ‘still buddies’ despite awkward air kiss
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insists he and one of his senior ministers are “good mates”, despite a notable campaign absence and awkward interaction at Labor’s election launch.
Albanese and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek have reportedly been at loggerheads after her overruled his left faction comrade on nature protections and salmon farming in Tasmania.
Cameras caught an awkward moment at the Labor campaign launch in Perth on Sunday, when Albanese and Plibersek came together for an embrace before clasping each other’s hands and performing a long-distance air kiss.
Asked about the exchange on Monday, Plibersek maintained the pair were still friends and that she avoided contact to reduce the risk of passing on an illness during the campaign.
“Of course … we’re still buddies,” she told Channel Seven’s Sunrise program.
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“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.”
Plibersek was also notably absent from Albanese’s multimillion-dollar Great Barrier Reef announcement last Thursday, although she said it was because she had recently visited Cairns three times.
Albanese maintained the pair are still close but refused to confirm whether Plibersek would keep her portfolio if his government was re-elected on May 3.
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“Tanya Plibersek has been a friend of mine for a long period of time,” he said in Adelaide.
“We live in neighbouring seats, we’re good mates, and she’s doing a fantastic job.”
Albanese toured a housing development in Prospect, in Adelaide’s inner north, to spruik Labor’s latest housing initiatives targeted at first-home buyers.
Next stop on the campaign trail was Nonna’s Cucina, a non-profit that prepares meals for elderly and disabled people in the marginal seat of Sturt, which Labor hopes to wrestle off the Liberals.
It was also an opportunity for Albanese to lean into his Italian heritage as he helped pack containers with vegetable slices cooked by Nonna Rosa Matto and her team of volunteers.
“I am very proud of my heritage and I know that Adelaide has, like the rest of Australia, part of the Italo-Australian community that is a million-strong and has made such a contribution,” he said.
Albanese pledged $95,000 to the organisation to help upgrade its kitchen facilities.
