Anthony Albanese has come under fire after he ridiculed the cost of living crisis with a ‘cringe’ parody of the ‘So Fresh’ CDs.
On Wednesday night, the Prime Minister posted a photo of a CD cover on X titled ‘So Helpful’, listing the measures his government had taken to address Australia’s dire cost of living.
The post was intended as a cheeky reference to the hugely successful Australian compilation album series So Fresh, which until recently was released four times a year with hit singles from each season.
“New album just released,” Albanese captioned the photo.
Rising inflation has left many Australians struggling to keep up with rising costs of groceries, housing and energy.
It is therefore not surprising that some were less than impressed with the prime minister’s attempt at humour.
“You are trivializing the situation that is currently occurring in our country,” someone fumed.
Another added: ‘Are you broken or do you just hate Australians that much?’
Commentators were furious with Mr Albanese (pictured with his fiancée Jodie Haydon) for taking the cost of living crisis ‘lightly’
Commentators under Mr Albanese’s (pictured) album ‘So Helpful’ called on him to ‘stop acting like a child’ and ‘get inflation under control’
A third wrote: ‘When are we going to get a grown up government? Don’t be a f**king child Albo, if you had any sense you’d start cutting government spending to get inflation under control.’
“It wasn’t really a challenge to be worse than the last guy,” said another, referring to former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Others were baffled by Mr Albanese’s “childish” joke.
“Please grow up,” one person wrote.
Another added: ‘I had to double check to make sure this wasn’t a parody account.’
A third wrote: ‘Fire your media team Albo, fire them now.’
Mr Albanese listed the following items as “very helpful”: “paid internships for students”, “more rent subsidies”, “$300 off energy bills” and “$3 billion in student debt forgiven”.
Albo’s message did not go down well with Australians on Wednesday night as the cost of living crisis worsens
The Salvation Army earlier this year described the rising cost of living combined with ‘historically low rental vacancy rates’ as a ‘social crisis’.
“According to government and research data, more than 3.3 million Australians, including more than 700,000 children, are currently living in poverty and 40 per cent of renters expect to struggle to pay their rent in the next three months,” the report said.
‘The current economic climate is causing more and more people to get into financial difficulties.
‘An alarming number of Australian families are currently feeling the pinch of rising costs.
‘With grocery, utility and fuel costs skyrocketing over the past year, more than 40 per cent of Australian households have struggled to pay for basic household necessities in the past three months. What’s more, more than half of Australians say they will struggle to pay an essential bill in the next three months.’
The Salvation Army earlier this year described the rising cost of living combined with ‘historically low rental vacancy rates’ as a ‘social crisis’