“Come on, come on”: Karl Stefanovic clashes with ALP President
<p dir="ltr">Karl Stefanovic and the President of the Australian Labor Party have butted heads over Anthony Albanese’s treatment by the media and his latest forgetful moment while facing the press.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Wayne Swan told <em><a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/today/anthony-albanese-gaffe-labor-mp-wayne-swan-weighs-in-on-controversy/f5d3c937-39fd-41f0-9c28-ad2f71cde2c9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Today</a></em> that Mr Albanese needs to be “given a fair go” instead of being the target of “gotcha journalism” and compared his treatment by the press to that of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Stefanovic claimed the future prime minister should be across all the details after Mr Albanese failed to recall his six-point plan for the NDIS.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I just think Australians are being sold short by this kind of ‘gotcha’ journalism,” Swan said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“He was being asked about a press release that was 18 days old. I think the problem we have got here is the Prime Minister is not being subject to the same focus and I also think there is a degree of hostility in the press pack and that’s not helping, it’s not good for democracy and it’s not good for debate.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Karl shot back that if Swan was in the same position he would “definitely remember policy details”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“You can only have so many times you can be asked details - if you want to be prime minister of this country - and I’m telling you right now Wayne Swan, you were across detail - you have to be across a level of it and this was his own policy,” Stefanovic said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“He is across the detail, there is no question about it - but this ‘gotcha’ journalism with the press pack on the road is disgusting,” Swan replied.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Come on, come on, what (about) asking questions of the person who wants to lead the country is disgusting?” Stefanovic asked.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“No, demanding dumb answers - that is the problem here. I think the sort of prosecution of Anthony Albanese is now at the level we saw with Julia Gillard and that was a low point in Australian politics,” Swan answered.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Swan continued to say that the public “are absolutely fed up with this”, while Stefanovic countered that the public “need to see Albanese perform and be across more of the details”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The debate - and Mr Albanese’s failure to recall - came after he was unable to recall the cash rate or the unemployment rate in the election campaign’s opening days which made him the target of various critics.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Today</em></p>
