Talkback host Ray Hadley launched a scathing attack of Anthony Albanese after he admitted he didn’t know how much petrol cost per litre.
The Prime Minister acknowledged in a Sky News interview on Sunday he doesn’t fill up his own car as an excuse for not knowing how much petrol cost in Australia.
Mr Albanese said the last time he did fill up the tank, it was about $1.80 a litre. The price of petrol in most of Australia is well beyond $2 and averages between $2.10 and $2.20.
2GB’s morning host pointed out that the real problem with his comments weren’t that he doesn’t know the price, but that he thinks ‘he doesn’t need to know it’.
‘Doesn’t he look out the window? It’s not as if you are sitting in there with the curtains drawn (in his Commonwealth car).
‘Look outside. You are the Prime Minister, you should know what petrol is.’
Hadley suggested the PM sounded ‘arrogant’ to the general public by admitting he ‘doesn’t fill up [his] own tank [and is] chauffer-driven everywhere’.
The Prime Minister acknowledged in a Sky interview at the weekend that he does not fill up his own car anymore when he was asked what petrol prices are right now
![Hadley suggested the PM sounded 'arrogant' to the general public by admitting he 'doesn't fill up [his] own tank [and is] chauffer-driven everywhere'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/21/08/74547435-12427869-Hadley_suggested_the_PM_sounded_arrogant_to_the_general_public_b-a-28_1692601369198.jpg)
Hadley suggested the PM sounded ‘arrogant’ to the general public by admitting he ‘doesn’t fill up [his] own tank [and is] chauffer-driven everywhere’
‘I’ll give you a tip now, Prime Minister… It sounds like a w**k. It’s not a good look for a knockabout PM who supports South Sydney and grew up his housing commission estates.
‘It sounds like someone who’s privileged with his head stuck up his a**e, that’s what it sounds like.’
‘It’s just incomprehensible that the prime minister that the two things that impact on Australians more than anything are fuel and power … and he doesn’t know the price of one of them.’
However, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said it is more important for the Prime Minister to be ‘absolutely focused on the cost of living’.
‘That’s why we’re making childcare cheaper, we’re halving the cost of medicines, we’re making it free to see the doctor’.
Meanwhile on Today Extra, 9 columnist and contributor Shelly Horton described the incident as a ‘stupid gotcha moment’.
She said: ‘We don’t need our Prime Minister filling up his own car. He has much bigger things to be working on like the cost-of-living.’
She noted the cost of petrol is constantly ebbing and flowing, depending on location, time of day and week-to-week.
‘A perfect example we had the air show here on the Gold Coast up at Surfers – the petrol was $2.25, when you got back down to my end of the coach in Palm Beach it was $1.85. A difference of 40 cents on the same day,’ she said.
![Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart recorded an average weekly price of more than $2 a litre, while Brisbane had the cheapest price of 188.2 cents a litre](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/21/08/74547439-12427869-Sydney_Adelaide_and_Hobart_recorded_an_average_weekly_price_of_m-a-27_1692601369197.jpg)
Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart recorded an average weekly price of more than $2 a litre, while Brisbane had the cheapest price of 188.2 cents a litre
‘Can he please just be working on fixing the cost-of-living and our economy, rather than being tested to see if he knows how much bread and petrol is.’
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also weighed in on the controversy today.
Mr Dutton told 2GB on Monday that while the Prime Minister shouldn’t be expected to recall every detail, Mr Albanese should show he knows families are doing it tough.
‘It’s hard for the PM to say I understand the pressure families are under but to then not be observant enough to notice that petrol was going to become an issue over the last month or so,’ he said.
‘Because once you get over $2, over $2.20, up towards $2.50, families are starting to leave the car in the garage at that point, and that’s the difficulty I suppose you’re faced with that question.’
The Prime Minister was asked about basic costs in the wake of a major speech to the ALP National Conference, where he said the cost-of-living was the number one priority for his government.
‘Can you tell me what the price of petrol is roughly at the moment?’ Sky News host Andrew Clennell asked.
‘Well, I don’t go and fill up my car. But it was around about $1.80 last time,’ the Prime Minister responded.
Mr Albanese’s answer was later compared to that of his predecessor Scott Morrison, who was unable to say just how much essential groceries, such as bread or petrol, cost when asked at the National Press Club.
Former prime minister John Howard, who Mr Morrison considered a mentor, used to be asked the same question.
To avoid stumbles, Mr Howard would carry with him a piece of paper that outlined the running costs of bread, milk and other household staples.
The average weekly price for unleaded petrol tipped 196.5 cents a litre last week, according to data from the Australian Institute of Petroleum.
Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart recorded an average weekly price of more than $2 a litre, while Brisbane had the cheapest price of 188.2 cents a litre.
But a separate chart, seen by government sources, put the national weekly average at $1.79 – which would make Mr Albanese almost spot on.
Motorists are unlikely to see relief at the pump in the coming weeks as the fall in the Australian dollar and global oil prices remains extremely volatile.
Mr Albanese said the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the impact of inflation was continuing to cause pain at the pump.
‘We need to continue to do what we can to put lower pressure on inflation,’ he said.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the government’s May budget had not adequately addressed the inflation challenge.
‘This government has got to show real spending restraint. And it’s got to stop doing things that make the matter worse,’ he told Sky News.
Mr Albanese’s wide-ranging interview on Sky News came just days after he outlined his re-election pitch to the ALP National Conference and unveiled a new slogan – ‘Working for Australia’.
![Motorists are unlikely to see relief at the pump in the coming weeks as the fall in the Australian dollar and global oil prices remains extremely volatile (stock image)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/20/01/74513663-12425045-image-a-2_1692492683585.jpg)
Motorists are unlikely to see relief at the pump in the coming weeks as the fall in the Australian dollar and global oil prices remains extremely volatile (stock image)
The Prime Minister hinted at a 2025 election when he was asked if he had the intention of staying on for another full term if he was returned to power.
‘Absolutely,’ he said on Sunday.
‘Politics can change quickly. And we take nothing for granted, certainly not the next election for granted.
‘This conference has been an important step, and readying us for the 2025 campaign and beyond.’
The cost-of-living blunder comes as NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns quietly paid for his own tickets to the Randwick Races on Saturday, unlike most politicians, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
Mr Albanese last week was met with ridicule and disbelief when he revealed he hadn’t read the additional pages of meeting briefings, notes and context which led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Mr Albanese has repeatedly vowed to implement the statement ‘in full’, advocating all three pillars that were born out of the dialogues around Australia in 2017: Voice, Treaty, Truth.
It has since been revealed there is an in-depth, 26-page explanation of the statement which calls for reparations, ‘rent’ to be paid, a reconsideration of land rights and a re-writing of Australia’s history.
These arguments were not included in the final statement, however critics are concerned they will be topics that the Voice to Parliament will be interested in pursuing.
The prime minister was asked if he ‘agrees with most of what is said in those pages’ during a lengthy sit-down interview with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on Wednesday.
To the radio host’s surprise, Mr Albanese revealed he hadn’t read it.
‘I haven’t read it,’ he said. ‘There’s 120 pages, why would I?
‘I know what the conclusion is. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is one page. That’s the conclusion.’
![Mr Albanese's extraordinary admission comes after he revealed he hasn't read the additional pages of meeting briefings, notes and context which led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart has been met with ridicule and disbelief](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/20/00/74109657-12425045-The_PM_was_asked_if_he_agrees_with_most_of_what_is_said_in_those-a-9_1692487983064.jpg)
Mr Albanese’s extraordinary admission comes after he revealed he hasn’t read the additional pages of meeting briefings, notes and context which led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart has been met with ridicule and disbelief
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