Why Anthony Albanese hammered shock jock Ray Hadley with ‘damage control’ phone calls on Tuesday night after ignoring him for 18 months

Radio host Ray Hadley has told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “fuck off” after the Prime Minister bombarded him with phone calls during a row over whether he said “white people” were to blame for voting out the Voice.

During Question Time in Parliament on Monday, the Prime Minister was asked whether he still supported the Uluru Declaration from the heart, including a Makarrata Commission on ‘truth telling’ and a treaty.

But exactly what Mr Albanese said in his response – and how it sounded – has sparked a media frenzy, with the Prime Minister’s office going overtime in damage control – including direct calls from Mr Albanese to Hadley.

Television footage showed Mr Albanese saying: ‘Regardless of what the white people voted…’

The Prime Minister’s office insists he actually said: ‘… WAY people voted’ – and that is how Hansard recorded the comment.

Radio 2GB’s Hadley played the clip on his show the next day and lambasted the Prime Minister for what he said was an inflammatory, misspoken comment.

Later that evening, Hadley claims the Prime Minister tried to call him repeatedly in an attempt to defuse the furor, but Hadley missed the calls because he was with his grandchildren.

Radio host Ray Hadley has told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to ‘fuck off’ after the Prime Minister targeted him with a series of phone calls

The row arose over audio of Prime Minister Anthony Albense apparently blaming ‘white people’ for the defeat of this weekend’s referendum

And on Wednesday the shock jock told the Prime Minister to ‘fuck off’ as the Labor leader had previously rejected several invitations from Hadley to come on his show.

“He hasn’t spoken to me in 18 months,” Hadley told fellow 2GB presenter Ben Fordham.

“I got two missed calls from Anthony Albanese late last night, but I was with my grandkids so I didn’t see them until I woke up at 3am this morning.

‘He won’t be in my program. He’s been ignoring me for 18 months. I’ve had dozens and dozens of requests.

“He shows up with you and other people. He won’t appear on my show.

“So I’m not going to apologize for him misspeaking the way he did. I don’t think he meant “white,” but that’s what he said.

“Whether he was subconsciously thinking about white people, I don’t know,” he added.

“So to the Prime Minister who will get this tape from his minions: don’t call me to try to make things right after you’ve just been surrounded by the no vote.

“You haven’t spoken to me in eighteen months and you can leave.

“I don’t really need to talk to you. I will talk about you…without talking to you.”

The uproar exploded after earlier comments from Hadley and Sky News Australia presenter Paul Murray sparked a fiery response from the Prime Minister’s office.

Hadley said on Tuesday he had been bombarded with messages from the Prime Minister’s staff since he first played the audio of the Prime Minister’s response on Question Time.

“Haven’t we touched a nerve with the Prime Minister?” Hadley said this on his show on Tuesday. ‘I have never heard from the Prime Minister’s Office so often.

“They (mostly) don’t want to talk to us – and suddenly a flood of calls from outraged members of the bureau.”

Murray cast the response as an example of how out of touch the Prime Minister was, and as a denial of the catastrophic rejection of the Voice proposal.

“The idea that the 60/40 outcome is No is because white people voted against it. It’s a complete blind spot to what went wrong this weekend,” Murray said.

The Prime Minister’s media team referred questions to the official Hansard report of the session, which offers yet another version of what was said.

It says the Prime Minister said ‘regardless of the way people voted in this referendum’ – but audio and video footage from Parliament clearly shows this is not the full quote.

But comments condemning the Prime Minister’s response by Radio 2GB’s Ray Hadley and Sky News Australia presenter Paul Murray (pictured together) prompted a swift response from the Prime Minister’s office.

Some have compared the soundbite to the infamous blue dress/white dress meme that seemed to change color with every look and swept the internet in 2015.

Listeners to the Prime Minister’s comment were able to hear both the ‘road’ and ‘white’ versions of his response after repeated replays.

The Prime Minister’s media team referred questions to the official Hansard report of the session (pictured) – but that offers yet another version of what was said

2GB’s Ben Fordham said on Wednesday he accepted the Prime Minister’s version of what was said.

“It sounded like he was saying, ‘regardless of what white people voted,’” Fordham said on his show before suggesting Hadley listen to his story.

‘But the Prime Minister’s Office has been in touch and they say he used the word ‘manner’. He was trying to say, “regardless of the way people vote.”

“When we played it yesterday, Ray Hadley suspected he had made a mistake. I accept the Prime Minister’s version of events.

“It’s more likely he was trying to say how people voted, rather than what it sounded like, how white people voted.

‘So, says the Prime Minister’s Office, if you go and look at Hansard, there is the word ‘road’ there, not white, and that makes more sense.

“If you look at the vision and listen to the audio, it looks and sounds like the word ‘white’ has been used, but I accept the Prime Minister’s Office’s version of events.”

2GB’s Ben Fordham also became involved in the row on Wednesday, but said he accepted the Prime Minister’s version of what was said

Hadley still insisted on his show that the Prime Minister would be honest and admit his blunder.

“We’re not suggesting he did it deliberately,” he said. “What we are suggesting is that he made a mistake.”

Hadley believes the Prime Minister’s office then forced Hansard to change the record to the sanitized version it published, which was strongly refuted by the PMO.

“Maybe he meant to say ‘how people vote,’ but it didn’t come out that way,” Hadley said.

‘I’m sorry – Hansard may be reporting ‘whatever way’, but this is what the Prime Minister actually said in Parliament.

“He’s obviously bruised and all of a sudden, ‘How dare you question our integrity?’ How dare you? Of course we wouldn’t change Hansard.’

‘No. Someone must have intervened. He made a mistake. I’m not crucifying him, but I’ll tell you what: they’re very sensitive after what happened this weekend.

‘They clearly haven’t slept…’