Well, it’s good to know that the legacy media even in Australia are playing catch-up to The BFD. The day after we ran the headline Can’t Tell His Arse from His Albo, the West Australian ran an almost identical headline on its front page. While it’s almost certainly a case of great minds thinking alike rather than copy-catting, it’s nice to know that The BFD can match the best the legacy media can come up with.
The paper, owned by Kerry Stokes‘ Seven West Media, ran the headline with a photograph of Mr Albanese winding up the press conference, arguing that it “just makes everyone wonder what other basic information does he not know?”
The critical coverage from Mr Stokes’ daily newspaper of Mr Albanese is in contrast to the paper’s supportive coverage of WA Premier Mark McGowan.
Ahead of the May 21 election, Labor is trying to claw back a swag of seats from the Coalition in the West including the seat of Swan, which is held by the outgoing Liberal MP Steve Irons on a margin of 3.7 per cent.
The Easter break from campaigning can’t come soon enough for Albanese, who shot himself in the foot so spectacularly on day one and has struggled to recover. Raised a good Catholic boy, Albo is surely hoping that after a few day’s break, he’ll be able to roll back the tomb and rise again.
Not if he keeps getting put on the back foot, though.
Anthony Albanese has sought to clarify remarks he made earlier on Thursday about offshore processing centres becoming redundant after he was attacked by Scott Morrison for being “weak” on national security.
The Opposition Leader said on Thursday morning that “you don’t need offshore detention” if you turn back the boats successfully, pledging he would maintain the Coalition’s policy if he wins government in May.
When asked about his comments later in the day, Mr Albanese said his position had been “clear” and that he would continue to support offshore processing centres.
The Australian
With form like this, he’s not going to shake off the “Each-Way Albo” tag any time soon. Still, he’s got a week to prepare for his next really big test: the first leaders debate, next Wednesday. The debate will take the form of a Brisbane “people’s forum” and will be hosted by Sky News in partnership with The Courier Mail.
Expect lots of questions about economics.
Meanwhile, PM Scott Morrison’s campaign has experienced a literal car crash.
Scott Morrison’s security team has been in a serious car accident during day four of the election campaign in Tasmania.
Four security personnel have been taken to hospital after the car veered off the road near Elizabeth Town in the state’s north.
A spokesman for Mr Morrison said the Prime Minister was not in the vehicle that crashed.
The Australian
Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but word is that the injuries were quite serious. The PM cancelled his remaining campaign events for the day.
Speaking of cars — one of the “independent” candidates challenging the Coalition in wealthy Sydney seats has demonstrated just how down-to-earth and in touch they really are.
Allegra Spender, the wealthy scion of millionaire fashion designer Carla Zampatti, wonders why we plebs just won’t save the planet by buying luxury cars.
The independent candidate for Wentworth Allegra Spender says Australian families will save thousands of dollars by switching to electric vehicles over the lifetime of a car despite EVs costing considerably more than a petrol vehicle.
“Considerably more” is an understatement.
The average small petrol-run car costs $26,150 while an SUV or a sedan costs about $44,000, according to consumer comparison website Canstar Blue.
The cheapest electric vehicle available Australia-wide is the MG ZS EV, the original price of which is $40,990, but most electric vehicles cost north of $50,000.
In other words, the price of a Porsche Macan crossover or a BMW 3 Series.
But, sure, if you, Joe Hardscrabble, could scrape up the sort of cash Allegra Spender probably finds down the back of her couch, how much would you actually save?
Ms Spender was referring to a report published by think tank the Grattan Institute, which argues for the introduction of emission standards, also called an emissions ceiling, on cars sold in Australia.
The report calculated that a person who bought an electric vehicle would save on running costs on average more than $900 over the first five years and more than $2000 over the life of the vehicle.
Wow, that much? And all for a lazy 50 grand up front. Bargain.
“I drive a hybrid, and we have a regular car for weekends,” she said.
The Australian
Never let it be said that ultra-wealthy climate botherers are out-of-touch elitists.
