Anthony Albanese calls out Coalition’s internal politics after Malcolm Turnbull calls Peter Dutton a ‘thug’ on ABC Nemesis documentary

In a speech to be delivered to party faithful in NSW on Sunday, Labor Leader Anthony Albanese will take aim at the Coalition in the wake of the ABC’s four-part documentary Nemesis.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the second episode described Mr Dutton as a “thug”.

Mr Albanese said the choice of language used by Mr Turnbull left him feeling “a bit of sympathy for Peter Dutton”.

“What it made forensically clear was just how focused the Libs and Nats are on themselves – and only themselves,” Mr Albanese will say during his speech at the NSW Country Labor Conference in Nowra on Sunday.

“Now I have a small confession to make – there was a moment during Nemesis when I felt a bit of sympathy for Peter Dutton. There was Scott Morrison getting five secret portfolios, but all Pete got was a single syllable.

“And when Malcolm Turnbull uses a word of just one syllable, you know things are serious.

“But what was even more damning than the word ‘thug’ was that in the four-and-a-half hours they spent talking about each other, like they were flicking through a thesaurus of hatred, the Australian people barely rated a mention.

“We are here to serve the Australian people. We’re in government to make a positive difference.”

Speaking to the media after the episode, Mr Dutton rebutted Mr Turnbull’s assessment of him.

“Have you found me to be a thug? I think some of the narrative is sort of retrofitting a particular purpose,” Mr Dutton said.

“In this job, it’ll be very difficult to go on the program, as I was asked to do, and give a true account of the actions of some individuals.

“But maybe at some stage I’ll give an account, of the true character of some individuals. But I of course champion every former leader of my great party, and I’ll continue to do that into the future as well.”

Meanwhile, during his Sunday address, Mr Albanese will say the Coalition has a history of “getting on its soapbox” and will continue to do so.

“Their gut reaction was to oppose our tax cuts. Their first instinct was to promise to roll them back,” he will say.

“Then – because they actually heard the Australian people’s strong support for Labor’s tax cuts – they changed their mind, gritted their teeth and said they’d support them after all.

“Even then, they’re still dreaming of rollbacks.

“They have voted against every other cost of living measure we have introduced.

“They are so against it that in parliament on Thursday, they even moved an amendment to take mentions of ‘cost of living’ out of the bill title.

“They only ever take a stand when it’s to stand against something.

“They offer no alternative plan. They have no idea on how to help middle Australia. They have no idea on how to help regional Australia.

“And the ideas never occur to them because you never occur to them.

“They can change how they vote – they’ll never change who they are.”