Key Points
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has imitated the iconic So Fresh CD series in a controversial social media post.
- The mocked-up album cover reads "so helpful" with a list of his government's cost-of-living initiatives.
- Angry Australians have claimed the post was tone deaf and his media team should be sacked.
Amid a crippling cost-of-living crisis, some people are questioning how Anthony Albanese was allowed to post a "cringe" picture that some say made a joke out of people's financial struggles.
On Wednesday afternoon, the prime minister posted a photo on X imitating the iconic So Fresh Australian compilation CD series, released four times a year with the season, with the title "so helpful — cost of living relief — Winter 2024" accompanied by the words, "New album just dropped".
In place of top songs, the album cover lists government initiatives including "tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer", "$300 off power bills", "cheaper medicine" and "more paid parental leave".
And instead of artists' photos, picture bubbles feature the faces of smiling Australians.
Within hours, the post had attracted over 2,000 comments. Many said the post was insensitive to the financial hardships that so many are currently experiencing, with some users on X questioning if the post had come from a parody account.
"This is seriously cringe", one said.
"The cost of living crisis isn't a joke!" read another.
"This makes you look plain damned stupid. Do you honestly think that you can buy Australians that have humanity in their hearts. This add is the most insane thing I have ever seen. You are taking the piss with this one Anthony. Embarrassing."
Another described the post as "infantile trash".
"People are losing their homes because of you and what's your response?" it read.
"You’re making light of a very situation currently happening in our country," said another. "Whatever intern posted this, Be better."
Others called for the media team to be sacked, while a few added that young people may not even understand the reference.
"Fire your social media adviser bro", one person said.
"Kids these days never owned a CD and Gen X aren’t likely to vote for you," added another.
Despite albums tanking in popularity over recent years, the So Fresh releases have been the year's highest-selling compilation albums in Australia every year from 2001 to 2011, 2014 to 2015 and 2017 to 2023, according to the Australian Recording Industry Association.
The furore comes after the Albanese government faced criticism for some of its cost of living relief measures, including the $300 energy rebates, with concerns people won't use the rebate on power bills but spend it elsewhere instead, .
This week , adding it no longer expects underlying inflation to return to its 2 to 3 per cent target band until December 2026.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers dismissed the concerns, claiming the government was being "helpful".
“Budget spending is not the primary determinant of prices in the economy, but we can be helpful, and we are being helpful, with the design of our cost-of-living policies, which help us get back to [the 2 to 3 per cent inflation] target sooner,” Chalmers said on Wednesday.
