Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has commented on Dominic Perrottet’s Nazi uniform scandal, saying voters will judge the NSW premier on his policies at the upcoming election, not on his youthful sins.
Albanese appeared on 2DayFM on Monday morning and was asked about the scandal, which broke last week when Perrottet came clean about the Nazi costume he wore to his 21st birthday party.
“I’m staying clear of that,” Albanese said. “I think people will make up their own mind about those issues.”
The prime minister was then asked if he believed it was a “sackable offence”.
“Well, I think there’s an election in March and people will make their mind up about a whole range of issues, but primarily they’ll make their mind up about who is best to lead the state on policy issues,” Albanese responded.
The PM went on to say he “hoped” there were embarrassing pictures of him from his own youth.
“Well, I hope so. I would have led a pretty boring life if there wasn’t,” Albanese said.
He clarified there weren’t any seriously scandalous pictures out there.
“I assure you that there’s nothing like that. Nothing whatsoever like that,” he said.
“But I do think that I am lucky that I’m a bit older than Dom. And these days, I think people with cameras around and photos of everything, I’m sure there are a few young people who will regret the invention of cameras on phones in a few years.”
His comments come as NSW Liberals worry the costume scandal could escalate.
Crikey reported last week that rumours have circulated for weeks about a photo of Perrottet’s costume, although the premier said he wasn’t sure if any pictures existed.
