Anthony Albanese fires back at reporter after stumble on NDIS

A fired-up Anthony Albanese has told reporters he is “in charge” of his own press conferences.

The Labor leader appeared to be riled up as he spoke to the travelling journalists accompanying him on the election trail in Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west on Friday.

Asked how he was feeling about his campaign after contracting Covid-19 a fortnight ago, Mr Albanese asserted he was “match-fit” despite feeling some lingering effects from the virus.

Mr Albanese launched into a run-down of the “pretty heavy program” he had engaged in a day earlier, which included multiple media appearances and a meeting with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

As the press pack began to shout over the top of one another, Mr Albanese threw his arm out and declared “I’m in charge” of choosing the order in which to take questions.

It’s possible Mr Albanese wasn’t feeling too warm towards the media after his highly-publicised stumble over Labor’s plan for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Mr Albanese was unable to name the six points of his party’s policy — which he had announced a day earlier — after being asked more than once during a press conference on Thursday.

Camera Icon Labor leader Anthony Albanese is sticking by his party’s plan for the NDIS. Liam Kidston Credit: News Corp Australia

Mr Albanese was handed a document by a staffer and then, after glancing at it, answered: “Our policy on the NDIS is to defend and fix the NDIS, lifting (the) National Disability Insurance Agency staffing cap, doubling existing funding for advocacy, fixing rental access and stopping waste”.

A reporter said: “You did not know your own policy, Mr Albanese”, to which he replied: “No, we did. It is to put people at the centre of the NDIS”.

Debate ensued over whether the question was of the “gotcha” style that has featured in this year’s campaign and which many journalists defend as important but other people may well have grown weary of.

Mr Albanese was pressed on the matter again on Friday, with a reporter questioning: “Is asking you a question about one of your own policies that you announced really a gotcha question?”

Mr Albanese used the opportunity to outline Labor’s vision for the NDIS, promising to have people with disabilities on the agency board and to double funding for advocacy groups.

“Let me tell you what the NDIS is about. It’s not about gotcha questions, what it’s about is providing: ‘What would you do if you had you had your opportunity?’”

Camera Icon Scott Morrison hasn’t ruled out the potential for future cuts to the NDIS. Jason Edwards Credit: News Corp Australia

He spoke about his mother’s struggles to live independently and with dignity as she suffered with rheumatoid arthritis without a proper diagnosis.

“My mum, because she wasn’t diagnosed (she) didn’t get the assistance that she needed for her health,” he said.

“She couldn’t get the sort of support that she needed to use a knife and a fork to cut up food because her hands were crippled up.”

Asked if he thought it was unfair to hound him on “specific bullet points” of NDIS policy, Mr Albanese said “people are entitled to ask questions”.

Whichever party wins government on May 21 will need to contend with how to sustain the NDIS, which won bipartisan support in 2013 and now supports more than 500,000 Australians.

The scheme currently costs $31bn per year, but that is predicted to rise to $59.3bn by the end of the decade.

Scott Morrison on Thursday wouldn’t rule out making future cuts to the NDIS, with the Prime Minister saying only that his government “always run our programs responsibly”.