Moment Anthony Albanese is confronted by loud protesters at press conference – before he effortlessly shuts them down with one sentence
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has faced protesters who tried to interrupt a press conference by coldly telling them to wait their turn.
Mr Albanese was speaking to the media after touring the Lake Haven Urgent Care Clinic on the NSW central coast and discussing his government’s revamped Stage 3 tax cuts, along with other cost-of-living measures.
As the Prime Minister spoke, a female voice began shouting over him.
“Why does your government continue to approve new coal and gas projects during a climate crisis?” the protester shouted.
Mr. Albanese took a quick glance at the brawler and continued his speech, but this did not deter her.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s press conference was disrupted by protesters on NSW’s central coast, but he appeared unfazed
However, the woman continued to intervene, shouting that climate change “was an emergency.”
Another white-haired man standing next to the Prime Minister’s contingent produced a protest sign that read: ‘No new coal or gas’.
He accused the prime minister of being a “Zionist”, that is, someone who supports Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
As members of the prime minister’s security detail pushed the protester aside, Mr Albanese remained calm.
“How about we talk to the journalists, and I’d like to talk to you too,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s events are increasingly dogged by protests.
In December, a pro-Palestinian protester holding a baby almost stole Mr Albanese’s thunder when police moved in to remove her while he was giving a speech in his electorate of Marrickville, in Sydney’s west.
The Prime Minister calmly raised his hand and told protesters he would listen to their concerns after answering questions from the media
At the time, Mr Albanese was opening a new $1.3 million “dementia-friendly” reserve in the western Sydney suburb of Ashfield, part of his federal electorate, when fighting broke out in the small crowd.
A woman with a baby by her side had stood quietly among the small crowd, holding up a sign that read “Shame Albo” with a drawing of a piece of watermelon, a protest symbol used to replace the Palestinian flag.
In November, the Prime Minister’s security detail clashed with a group of about 20 protesters, including a woman carrying two small children, at the swanky Rydges Palmerston hotel. Labor held a fundraising dinner.
Plainclothes officers and hotel staff barricaded the room with the Prime Minister inside and the doors to the room where Mr Albanese was meeting with Northern Territory government and business leaders were hastily closed.
With their progress blocked, the demonstrators chanted loudly as they held up Palestinian flags and other signs, demanding that Israel stop military action in Gaza.