Anthony Albanese did not tell a member of the public to “f*** off”

The post includes a video clip of the man attempting to ask the question during a press conference in WA. It is accompanied by a fabricated quote attributed to Mr Albanese which reads, “Are you an average Australian? Then f*** off. I only speak to my mates in the leftist media”.

But Mr Albanese did not say these words.

Mr Albanese and WA Premier Mark McGowan hosted the press conference in Perth on April 6, 2022 where they fielded questions on a range of topics, including COVID-19, newborn health screening, Labor’s policy agenda, the federal election, and WA tourism.

RMIT FactLab reviewed the complete footage of the press conference which was live streamed to Mr Albanese’s verified YouTube channel, as well as the transcript of the press conference published online by Mr Albanese’s media centre. Neither showed that he said the purported quote.

The video in the post, which is a re-upload of a clip from SKY News’ broadcast of the press conference, shows the man interrupting the conference by saying he is “not a media person” and “just a local resident” before attempting to pose a question.

Mr Albanese tells the man “we can’t really do that, the protocol, the media alliance will be a bit upset”, but the man persists.

Eventually, both Mr Albanese and Mr McGowan offer to speak to him after the conference, to which the man replies: “All right.”