Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced he is “having a bit of a break” next week as he takes leaves and travels in Australia.
Mr Albanese will be on leave from August 6 to 14, with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles taking on acting Prime Minister duties.
“I will be on leave next week, traveling in Australia, having a bit of a break – the first break I’ve had this year,” the Labor leader told ABC Melbourne on Friday.
“And Richard Marles will be doing a great job, I’m sure, in my absence as acting Prime Minister.”
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The Prime Minister also took a swipe at his predecessor Scott Morrison, who was heavily criticized for holidaying in Hawaii during the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.
Mr Albanese said there was a “the lack of transparency” around Mr Morrison’s trip, including the initial confusion about where he was and who was in charge of the country.
“When people didn’t even know whether Michael McCormick was the acting prime minister. And at the time they wouldn’t say where he was,” he said.
“I just think that it was a very unwise decision that added to the controversy, which was, in my view, pretty unnecessary had it been handled differently.”
The Prime Minister last month told how he had “not had a day off for a very long period of time” as he defended his overseas trips since Labor took power in May.
Mr Albanese’s leave comes after what he described as a “busy first sitting fortnight” of the 47th Parliament.
He took to Twitter on Friday morning to post a video message about how his government has “begun the work of delivering a better future for all Australians”.
“Aged care reforms were made into law. We introduced legislation for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave. The Treasurer provided an important economic update,” Mr Albanese said.
“We made progress on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. Our climate bill passed the House of Representatives.
“We appointed leads for the Defense Force Posture and Structure Review. And the National Cabinet came together to coordinate our response to the pandemic.”
Mr Albanese said the government will next week make a submission to the Fair Work Commission asking for aged care workers to receive a pay rise.
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