‘Out of touch’: James Paterson accuses PM of being ‘distracted’ on cost of living

Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has become “so out of touch” since he was elected and has been “distracted” on cost of living relief for Australians. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave his first press conference of the year on Wednesday morning, vowing to make cost of living relief his government’s priority in 2024. “It’s only taken the Prime Minister nearly two years to work out that the number one priority for the Australian people is cost of living,” Mr Paterson told Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus. “All he’s doing is asking the Department of Treasury and the Department of Finance to come up with some ideas for cost of living. “He doesn’t have any ideas of his own; he’s not ready to introduce any schemes to alleviate the financial pressure that Australians are under – he just thinks they should continue to suffer before he comes up with a plan to deal with it. “This just shows how distracted this government has been, how its priorities are wrong and how the prime minister, in particular, has become just so out of touch since he got elected.”