Media
The Prime Minister told the National Press Club that Australians who get their news from their phones instead of mainstream TV are being told things that are not true. Independent media has a different view.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stood at the National Press Club on Thursday and told Australians that the reason misinformation is spreading during the fuel crisis is because people stopped watching Channel 7.
Those are not our words. Those are his.
People used to get their information from Seven or Nine or ABC or 10 or SBS ... and there would be a consistency about it. Now they're getting it on their device. It's telling them all sorts of things that aren't true.
Albanese made the comments while defending his televised address to the nation the night before, which was widely panned as a nothing-burger by commentators across the political spectrum. The national address was broadcast on all major television and radio networks and largely told Australians to stay calm, go about their Easter weekend as normal, and not panic buy fuel. He said he took the opportunity to speak directly to the nation to cut through what he described as conspiracy theories and noise online.
Strip away the diplomatic language and the Prime Minister of Australia just told millions of Australians that if they are getting their news from independent creators, podcasters, or social media instead of government-aligned broadcasters, they are misinformed by definition.
The framing is revealing. According to Albanese, the problem is not that mainstream media has failed to earn trust. The problem is that Australians have the audacity to look elsewhere. The solution, apparently, is to return to Seven and Nine — the same networks that gave us wall-to-wall COVID compliance, uncritical vaccine promotion, and years of Russia collusion coverage that turned out to be wrong.
The consistency Albanese is nostalgic for is exactly what drove millions of Australians to seek out independent voices in the first place.
Albanese's national address was described by his own allies as underwhelming. FM radio hosts called it a nothing-burger the morning after. Former Liberal adviser Tony Barry noted Albanese has a negative 17 favourability rating according to polling firm Redbridge — well behind both opposition leader Peter Dutton and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
This is a Prime Minister who just won a record majority at the last election and is already in deeply negative territory with the public. Blaming that on Australians watching the wrong news channel is a remarkable political judgment.
Albanese is right that mainstream media used to be consistent. It was consistently behind every government lockdown. Consistently behind vaccine mandates. Consistently dismissive of anyone who asked questions. Consistently silent when the Therapeutic Goods Administration restricted early treatment options. Consistently unified in framing any dissent as dangerous misinformation.
That consistency is precisely why Australians left. Not because they were deceived by social media. Because they were lied to by the platforms Albanese is now telling them to go back to.
A Prime Minister facing a fuel crisis, a tanking approval rating, and a restless public does not respond by earning back trust. He responds by suggesting the problem is where people get their information. That is not leadership. That is deflection.
We are an independent Australian media outlet. We will keep reporting. Make up your own mind.
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