Following the announcement of a range of new measures designed to help women, Labor leader Anthony Albanese has been asked to prove how committed his party actually is to the issue by naming Australia’s female population in alphabetical order.
As the Opposition Leader floundered, several journalists questioned how serious the party was about its policy of closing the gender pay gap if its leader couldn’t even name the people it was designed to benefit.
“You can’t name them, can you Mr Albanese?” one journalist shouted. “It’s a very simple question. It’s your own policy and you can’t name the people it will affect. Extraordinary”.
As Albanese struggled to bat away the barrage of questions, an aide handed him a copy of the electorate roll, which he began to read out. “Well, you’ve got Aaliyah Aabe, and Abby Aackroyd, and then there’s …”
“You’re reading from notes!” a journalist shouted. “You don’t even know your own policy!”
Albanese later apologised for the gaffe.
In a radio interview, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he could name every woman in Australia, reciting off the top of his head the name of his wife Jenny and his three girls.
