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Who didn’t kiss whom? It’s difficult to determine, but regardless of the truth, for Anthony Albanese it would have felt like a betrayal, writes Joe Hildebrand.
View in browser 14th April 2025
 

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Joe Hildebrand
Federal election correspondent

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was betrayed with a kiss from Judas Iscariot. And now the Labor Party’s Lord and Saviour Anthony Albanese has been betrayed by a non-kiss from Tanya Plibersek.

Yes, despite Labor and the Coalition dropping a cool $10 billion each yesterday — which is substantially more than 30 pieces of silver — all anybody can talk about today is THAT kiss. Which is to say that kiss that wasn’t a kiss.

And it is here that things get a little bit tricky. Who didn’t kiss whom? It is very difficult to determine who instigated something that didn’t happen.

FULL LIST: Every Labor, Coalition and Greens promise so far

image‘Polling station’ by Warren Brown.

And this has sent the media into meltdown. Do the PM and Plibersek really hate each other? And if so why, given that they are politically like brother and sister: They are from the same wing of the same faction and their inner-Sydney electorates are literally next door to each other.

Albanese even helped Plibersek get preselected, and frankly in that part of the world no one gets preselected without Albo’s approval, so if he didn’t want her there she wouldn’t be there.

So what the proverbial is going on?

As Facebook would say: It’s complicated.

Or as the Roman poet Catullus would say: Odi et amo — I hate and I love.

CLICK HERE FOR JOE HILDEBRAND'S FULL ANALYSIS

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VIDEO OF THE DAY

image'How awkward': Albo and Plibersek's hug snub moment

Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek have spent today fending off questions over the awkward 'air kiss' moment at Labor's campaign launch on Sunday.

When asked to explain the Prime Minister's apparent hug snub, Ms Plibersek said it was a case of good hygiene. While Mr Albanese told reporters the two were "good mates", he wouldn't commit to having the Environment Minister back in her portfolio if Labor was re-elected.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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