Anthony Albanese has taken a look at the Coalition adverts, suggesting the Liberals think it’s “always okay” to make fun of its name.
The Leader of the Opposition made the remarks while addressing a crowd of 400 from Sydney’s Italian community at Club Marconi in the south-west of the city.
Mr Albanese raised the possibility of being the first prime minister not to come from an Anglo-Celtic background, speaking of his Italian heritage.
He also used the speech to criticize Liberal attack ads against him.
“People my age and older in this room will know that the school kids made fun of your name,” he said.
“My opponents think it’s still okay to make fun of someone’s name in their advertising, and that’s something they need to look at.”
It comes after the Coalition ran TV ads with the slogan “It won’t be easy under Albanians”.
Earlier in the day, the Leader of the Opposition said cutting $750 million in government grants would go some way to fixing the budget “left in disarray” by the Coalition.
In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra three days before the election, Mr Albanese said a new Labor government would be fiscally responsible.
As the official Labor Party policy costs will be unveiled on Thursday after days of questioning their release, Mr Albanese said funding for the Community Development Grants scheme would be cut by $350 million.
He also promised to return $400 million from the regionalization fund to the budget, describing it as an example of “waste and waste”.
“It will be my mission and my responsibility to ensure that every dollar spent in the budget is used to drive the productivity growth we need to pay down Liberal debt,” he said in his speech.
“Today’s announcement is the start of fixing the budget and cleaning up the mess that we will inherit.”
The address came after the latest Wage Price Index figures revealed wages rose 2.4% over the past year, well behind inflation of 5.1%.
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The Labor leader acknowledged he would face significant financial challenges if he wins, with an estimated $1 trillion in debt.
“We will inherit the worst set of books of any incoming government since the federation,” he said.
“This government has borrowed more, taxed more and spent more than Labor and delivered so much less. To build a better future, we need a better budget. Labor is committed to being responsible economic managers.”
With the last parliamentary term dominated by COVID-19, Mr Albanese promised a new Labor government would learn the lessons of the pandemic.
He said the past few years had shown vulnerabilities in the national economy, such as precarious work and the risk of businesses being exposed to global supply chain shocks.
“These problems are not new, most are the inevitable end result of a decade of cuts, mismanagement and neglect,” Mr Albanese said.
“Australian workers are paying the price for a decade of bad policy and economic failure, while Scott Morrison says he should be rewarded with another three years.”
While Mr Albanese has argued for a rise in the minimum wage to keep up with inflation and the cost of living, the Opposition Leader said he would consider whether to increase social benefits.
He said Labor would seek to do what they could in the area within the budgetary constraints inherited from the government.
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