Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra.Credit:Alex Ellighausen
Ms Swanson told her colleagues “we sound like we are whingeing and people don’t like it”,a reference to the fact that Labor had pushed for big companies such as Harvey Norman to repay their JobKeeper payments.
“I worry that we are sleepwalking off a cliff,” she told the regular Parliamentary sitting week meeting of all Labor MPs,according to several sources in the room.
The MP,who is Labor’s shadow assistant minister for defence,also complained Labor’s message was not cutting through with voters,while in contrast the “clever and cashed-up” government was more effective in getting its message to voters.
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The Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age spoke to five MPs who attended the meeting and those MPs all confirmed details of Ms Swanson’s comments. The MPs said Mr Albanese’s response was “not hostile” to Ms Swanson’s concerns but nor did he directly address her concerns.
Instead,the Labor leader is said to have told Ms Swanson that he agreed the Coalition was disciplined and on message and the ALP needed to be too – rather than talking about its internal issues.