‘The answer is no’: Albanese defends Allan’s absence from Labor campaign

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Peter Dutton has accused Jacinta Allan of presiding over a government in disarray that has failed to retain a police commissioner as Anthony Albanese grew short defending the premier’s absence from his campaign stops in the Victoria.

Albanese dismissed a question from this masthead about why Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was not with him in Melbourne, in contrast to his decision to appear with other state premiers during the campaign, saying it was because state parliament was sitting.

“It’s this little thing called parliament,” Albanese said. Asked whether Allan could appear briefly during a break in parliamentary sitting, Albanese responded bluntly: “The answer is no. I work closely with all state and territory governments and have a good relationships with every premier and chief minister, including Jacinta Allan.”

When Albanese travelled to WA earlier this week he campaigned with the state’s popular Labor premier Roger Cook. This masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor poll shows support for Victorian state Labor stands at just 24 per cent compared to 41 per cent for the Coalition, dragging on federal Labor’s vote in the state.

Earlier on Wednesday Dutton attacked the Victorian government, saying it had failed to convince acting police commissioner Rick Nugent to apply for the top role on a permanent basis.

“It’s a sign that the government’s in real trouble, and the wheels are falling off,” Dutton told ABC Melbourne radio on Wednesday, suggesting Nugent had not been “encouraged to stick around”.

“I think there are really very significant problems at the moment,” Dutton said. “Victorians feel it. They can sense that with this latest change, that a lot of fundamental mistakes being made and problems at the core of the government.”