Sunrise host Monique Wright launches scathing take-down of out of touch Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese has been branded ‘out of touch’ in a television take-down after a new poll showed the government is haemorrhaging support among working class voters.

Sunrise host Monique Wright peppered Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke with tough questions about perceptions the prime minister is “losing touch” with tradies.

Polling released by RedBridge today shows support for Labor among those with a TAFE, trade or vocational education qualification has slumped to 30 per cent, down six points, while support for the Liberals is up 10 per cent to 39 per cent.

That bleeding of support has been attributed to the cost-of-living crisis and a growing feeling in vast parts of the electorate that Mr Albanese isn’t doing enough to help struggling Aussies.

“Why do you think Labor is losing touch with tradies?” Wright pointedly asked Mr Burke.

He responded by saying that “everyone knows tradies run a tough bargain” but insisted the government’s workplace relations reforms would drive wages growth over the coming 12 months.

“People want to know you’re in favour of getting their wages moving so people are earning more, particularly at a time when people are really feeling the pain of what’s happening with prices,” Mr Burke said.

“In terms of wages, we now are finally starting to see wages finding their way to getting in front of what’s been happening with price rises.

“It’s only just in front at the moment for the past six months, but it’s real and the government’s policies to get wages moving are going to make a real difference there.”

He also said the government is “getting behind training more apprentices” and a target to fill 180,000 fee-free TAFE places was well ahead, currently sitting at almost 300,000.

Wright was unimpressed, saying: “That all sounds great but these [polls] don’t say that is getting through to these people.”

Mr Burke shot back that “a lot of these laws have only just been changed” and attacked Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, also appearing on the show, “because he voted against them”.

An unimpressed Mr Joyce began gesturing and shaking his head, as Mr Burke accused the former Coalition government of keeping wages “deliberately low” for the decade it was in power, worsening household budget pressures seen currently.

“What we’ve seen and heard there is a brilliant delivery of the talking points,” Mr Joyce scoffed.

“Well done. He must’ve been versing himself on those since about four this morning.”

Wright asked Mr Joyce if today’s polling was a sign that “Peter Dutton is winning back the Howard battlers” from Labor.

He claimed the government went to the last election promising cost-of-living release and then, once elected, began focusing on “constitutional change and climate change” instead.

“Just get the basics right. People get annoyed with the Labor Party because they talked about cost-of-living before the election and then they flirt with all these other issues and get the basics wrong.

“They’re not focused on the things that people who are working … [need].”

An apparent case in point of Mr Albanese being “out of touch” came with coverage of his visit to a winery in the Margaret River last week.

While holidaying in the region with his partner Jodi Haydon, he was pictured sampling a glass of wine from a bottle that costs an eye-watering $500.

“Given how many Aussies are struggling with just paying the basic bills, is this a bad look?” Wright asked.

Mr Burke shot back that he’s “blown away this one’s even a story” and said the PM is “taking a holiday in Australia, backing Australian small businesses”.

“Good on him,” he said.

“I know there’s been some newspaper articles and [criticism from] Michaelia Cash, who’s meant to be representing those small businesses in WA.

“Most people are of the view, particularly at this time of year, that if someone’s taking a few days off, that’s OK. And if they’re doing it by backing Australian small businesses, then good on ‘em.”

West Australian Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash launched a scathing attack over the photo, saying it shows Mr Albanese “has lost touch with the struggles of everyday Australians”.

“Many Australians are battling with even the basics this Christmas — let alone tasting expensive bottles of wine. It’s a grim economic scenario that many Australian households now face this Christmas in particular with food inflation,” Senator Cash told the West Australian newspaper.

But her Coalition colleague Mr Joyce agreed with Mr Burke’s sentiment, saying “I don’t care” about the criticism of Mr Albanese’s pricey plonk but did quip that he’s “really happy” he’s in Australia.

The Opposition has frequently criticised the PM’s repeated travels internationally on trade and diplomatic missions, branding him “Airbus Albo”.

But on the vineyard visit furore that’s erupted, he said: “First of all, no bottle of wine is worth five hundred bucks. How do people think that something that goes down your gullet and ends up in the toilet is worth $500 a bottle.

“I don’t care. I worry about all ranges of things but not if the PM has a bottle of wine.

“I’m worried about cost-of-living – people can’t afford their groceries, can’t afford their power bill, can’t afford their fuel and can’t afford their rent. That’s the thing people are talking about – that’s what’s worrying people.”

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