This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Anthony Albanese has delivered his strongest criticism of the prime minister yet, declaring Scott Morrison has a habit of being “loose with the truth” and blaming the media for reporting facts when he was uncomfortable with legitimate criticisms and questions.

Albanese, who has banned his caucus from using the word “liar” when referring to Morrison or government MPs, said Morrison’s latest deflection of Australia’s climate record was part of a “pattern” he had developed when asked uncomfortable questions.

Morrison used his time on the world stage at the United Nations general assembly to declare Australia was being unfairly maligned for its climate record, blaming the media for “misrepresenting” his government’s actions.

Emissions in Australia have continued to rise since the Coalition took power in 2014 and abolished the carbon price installed by the Gillard government.

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In one of his first signals since becoming opposition leader that he was prepared to muscle up against Morrison, Albanese said the prime minister’s rhetoric did not match the facts.

“What we’ve seen from the prime minister is downplaying the seriousness of climate change,” he said.

“What we’ve also seen is him dismissing the concerns which young people have about climate change.

“What we’ve also seen is him blaming the media for reporting the facts. And there’s a pattern developing here, whereby Scott Morrison is loose with the truth.

“We saw that when he dismissed the fact that he has said at least 17 times about Sam Dastyari – characterised him as Shanghai Sam – and he said that that never happened.

“We’ve seen that with regard to his dismissal of legitimate questions about whether he tried to organise for Mr [Brian] Houston to get an invite to the state dinner which was rejected by the United States administration, due to concerns that arose from the inquiry into child abuse that occurred here in Australia.

“He can’t just dismiss questions from the media.

“We have a prime minister who is … now trying to say that any questioning of the government’s record on climate change and the need to reduce emissions is a product of the media, rather than accepting responsibility as the prime minister of Australia.”

Albanese’s stronger stance comes amid frustrations from within his caucus that Labor is not doing enough to “take the fight” up to Morrison, as the party finds its groove under a new leader after the federal election loss.

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A review of Labor’s policy platform is under way as part of a review into the party’s performance during the May poll, which includes Labor’s much mooted 45% emissions reduction target by 2030. While opposition MPs remain skittish about committing to any continuation of the policy platform Labor took to the last election, fierce debate has raged within the party about remaining focused on climate change.

Albanese upped the attack on the Morrison government record on Thursday, but did not expand on Labor’s plans.

“The government is not doing enough to tackle climate change,” he said.

“They dismiss people who are concerned about climate change, including young people. They dismiss the facts on what is happening with regard to our renewables.

“They dismiss the concerns that the business community have, when they say they’re crying out for a framework which would give them the certainty to invest into the future.”