Australia politics live updates: Anthony Albanese addressing Labor campaign launch in Perth; 12 Covid deaths

Labor leader Anthony Albanese clears his throat (remember, he is very recently out of isolation), and begins by greeting the crowd, with a special nod to Malinauskas. He says:

My fellow Australians, in just 20 days time, you can vote for a better future, you can choose cheaper childcare, stronger Medicare, and fixing the crisis in aged care. Or, you can have more of the same.

He also says the Coalition “dared” the car industry to leave the nation, which is an interesting throwback to 2013, when then treasurer Joe Hockey taunted Holden (who did subsequently leave the country).

I’m embarrassed to say I had to look up the artist behind This is Australia. Anyway, it’s Gangajang. Here’s what the National Film and Sound Archive say about it:

Released as a single from GANGgajang’s self-titled debut album, this song became their most recognisable track. Written by Mark Callaghan to capture the culture shock of moving from England to Bundaberg, Queensland, it incorporates many of the iconic sights, sounds and smells of Australia. The single peaked at No. 35 on the Australian singles chart in February 1986. While the song has been a constant feature of GANGgajang’s live shows, it has also featured as Nine Network’s station ID promotion in 1996, and in a Coca-Cola commercial.

Albanese is the “real deal”, McGowan says:

I have known Anthony for a long time. He is one of the most senior and experienced figures in the nation. He is resilient. He is authentic. He is the real deal. He has boundless energy. He is a fundamentally decent person, driven by empathy and a deeper sense of civic responsibility, and I have every confidence he will make a fine prime minister, and a great partner for WA.

And now there is a terrifying, deep-voiced narration about Australia’s woes.

And now Albanese himself hits the stage, accompanied by This is Australia.

“There are no Liberal states, or Labor states,” McGowan says (this may come as a surprise to some). He says:

All around the country, there are only Australian states with men and women who want to see governments that care about what they care about – quality jobs, quality healthcare, a protected environment and a bright future bought them and for future generations. This campaign, we are talking to these Australians.

He’s talking up WA’s success, saying it comes from strong Labor economic management.

And he’s also brought up Clive Palmer. This must play well in the focus groups, painting the Coalition as in cahoots with the United Australia Party founder.

McGowan gets much applause as he greets the Labor elders, and refers to leader Anthony Albanese as “the next prime minister of Australia”. He says he has much in common with Albanese. They caught Covid on the same day, they both have poodle s… and:

Both of us had been on a diet for some time and lost a fair bit of weight between us, but no matter how hard we work at it, neither of us looks like Peter Malinauskas.

(If you don’t get that reference to the SA premier, just Google his name and “swimming pool”).

“Albo” didn’t make up his own nickname, Clare says, and summarises Labor’s pitch thus:

No-one is held back, and no-one is left behind.

And then he introduces WA premier Mark McGowan.

The crowd is adoring Clare. He makes a joke about the government’s failure to legislate a federal integrity commission. We have to make sure corrupt politicians can’t get off “Scott free”, he says. He gets good giggles for:

A government that thinks all you need to do to win the trust of a Pacific nations is play the ukulele. And thinks climate change is what happens when you check out the April sun in Cuba!

And a prime minister who thinks that there’s no problem with corruption in his government. While sitting there in his cabinet are more smoking guns than a Clint Eastwood movie! A prime minister who thinks his job is to dress up pretending to do other people’s jobs. This bloke is all tinsel, no tree. Nothing about this bloke is real, except his ability to let you down.

Clare’s taken on the attack dog role, having a crack at prime minister Scott Morrison over the trip to Hawaii, bushfires, floods, inflation, and even “forced handshakes”.

He also says the lack of growth in wages is something Morrison did “deliberately”. He says:

This bloke is all tinsel, no tree.

Wong lists Labor achievements before handing over to Jason Clare, who’s been a standout performer recently. Wong says:

It is Labor governments that have changed this country for the better. Medicare, the NDIS, accessible education, universal superannuation, the Sex Discrimination Act, the Racial Discrimination Act, native title, the apology to the Stolen Generations.

Wong says Albanese ‘the toughest of fighters, kindest of hearts’

Wong’s first point is that Labor will implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

“Who governs matters,” she says, before tracing the tribulations of the past couple of years:

The smoke of the black summer fires had barely cleared when Covid-19 reached us. And we were thrown into a new reality of lockdowns, masks and QR codes. We worked from home and set up classrooms around the kitchen table. We had Zoom meetings, Zoom drinks …

(Wong gets a chuckle from the crowd, and continues):

We had sad times, too. Tragically, we had Zoom funerals. Families and friends were separated. Livelihoods were lost. And industries were ravaged by a combination of the pandemic and deliberate government neglect. Australians in insecure work felt the brunt, older Australians in aged care homes were left vulnerable. And then the floods came. Yes, the worst of times brings out the best in Australians. But, too often, their strength has not been matched by leadership. And as the world at home shifted, so, too, did the world beyond. And we feel those reverberations today. Russia continues its brutal war on Ukraine. And closer to home, developments in Solomon Islands remind us that complacency can exact a heavy price.

Geez, that deliberate “deliberate” was … deliberate.