Australia federal election: Anthony Albanese rambles about pancakes on the rocks

Anthony Albanese has rambled for two minutes about jobs he did as a young man, dividing opinion over his public speaking skills and campaigning style.

The Labor leader was asked in a press conference in the NSW Hunter Valley on Thursday morning to nominate the hardest day of work he has ever done.

He replied with a long-winded answer about nights working at Sydney restaurant Pancakes on the Rocks and also a casual job cleaning pigeon poo off walls with a pressure hose.

Anthony Albanese has rambled for two minutes about jobs he did as a young man, dividing opinion over his election campaigning style

‘The pancake mix got into your skin and people knew that you had worked for two or three days afterwards,’ he said of the dish-washing job.

He then continued for about two minutes to describe another job cleaning pigeon excrement, saying: ‘We were hosing off pigeon poo probably decades old and it went all over us and it was a dreadful day.

‘We did get paid for it for three days’ work and it was a pretty tough.’ 

The answer used up valuable air-time he could have spent spruiking his health policies including a plan for 50 new first-aid clinics.

Advertising guru Adam Ferrier, who founded creative agency Thinkerbell, said Mr Albanese needs to work on communicating his key messages more effectively. 

‘Cognitive fluency is really important when you’re making a speech, whether that’s in politics or advertising,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘You repeat, repeat, repeat and make it clear to the audience what you want them to take out.’

Twitter users enjoyed Mr Albanese’s comments that he would smell of pancake mixture after working at Pancakes on the Rocks

Mr Albanese is pictured as a young man. He is campaigning to kick Scott Morrison out of office

Mr Albanese’s answer also attracted criticism on social media.

‘Albo talking about pancakes and pigeons is not going to win him the election,’ one voter wrote.

But others said it was nice to see a politician coming across as authentic.

One voter named Joy Marie wrote: ‘Albanese has come across as authentic so far. Seems genuine. Such a relief from the slick paper-thin marketing we get from Scott. I’m liking what I see and hear. A refreshing change.’

Another wrote: ‘Albo works at pancakes on the rocks everybody! He is PM material!’ 

The Labor leader announced that one of his 50 promised first-aid clinics would be in Cessnock, in the Labor-held marginal seat of Hunter.

But he struggled to answer questions about where the staff would come from.

He took several questions from journalists in the lengthy press conference after being criticised on Wednesday for walking out after just eight minutes.

The walkout came after he said he would not ‘run away’ from pressers like Scott Morrison.

Mr Albanese has been trying to recover after a disaster on day one of the campaign when he wrongly guessed the unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent and couldn’t state the Reserve Bank interest rate.

Australian Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference outside Cessnock Hospital