Anthony Albanese says Liberal campaign tactics such as releasing a hip-hop diss track against Labor are “beyond my comprehension”, accusing his opponents of “borrowing ideas” in their election pitch.
The Liberal campaign released a rap song with lyrics critical of Labor’s record on the cost of living, claiming the economy was “looking a mess” and that “eggs and cheese” cost $100. The song, titled Leaving Labor, was shared on the opposition’s SoundCloud account on Monday. While Coalition sources maintained the song was not generated by artificial intelligence, the campaign did not reveal the artist behind it, only saying it was a “commercial artist”.
Hours after the Liberal campaign had shared the song with journalists, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was asked about it at a press conference, and said he had not heard it. “I’m sure the gurus have put together a cracking ad,” he said.
At his own press conference in Tasmania, the prime minister said jokingly that the song had been “drawn to my attention”.
“The Liberal party can explain their own campaign,” he said at a paper mill in Boyer, north of Hobart. “Some of it is way beyond my comprehension, some of the things they’re doing in this campaign.”The noted rock’n’roll fan continued: “You know, there’s lots of really good Australian music around.”
“We heard one of those at my campaign launch yesterday: Sounds of Then by the great Ganggajang. We can all sing ‘This is Australia’,” he said.
“We are a different country. I’m running as an Australian prime minister on Australian values. I’ll leave it to others to see why they consistently just borrow cultures and ideas and policies from other places as well.”
When sharing the song, Coalition sources referenced famous American rap feuds including Drake and Kendrick Lamar, and Nas and Jay-Z. The cover art for the song, with Albanese’s face superimposed on shrugging emojis, appeared to be a nod to Drake’s 2021 album Certified Lover Boy, which was referenced several times in diss tracks from Lamar during their 2024 feud.
Critics and music fans reached broad consensus Drake lost the feud after a weeks-long public battle with Lamar, who later performed several songs criticising him at the February 2025 NFL Super Bowl.
Leaving Labor includes lyrics such as: “We living cheque to cheque / Labor’s got us feeling so stressed”; “We need to find a solution / we need to switch up the people in power”; and “Albo’s got to leave”.
The song carries an authorisation message at the end for the Liberal party.
Comments about the song on SoundCloudwere mostly negative.
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The track recalled a similar stunt from the Liberals in the 2022 election, an ad jingle titled There’s a hole in your budget, later released with a “club remix”.
The Coalition senator Matt Canavan backed the new song on Monday as a “catchy tune”, but when asked if he’d put it on his own playlist, admitted “probably not”.
“If it gets the message out … If it makes people to understand those real issues which are causing pain for everyday Australians, I’m all for it,” he told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
The Greens senator Barbara Pocock, on the same panel, suggested it was “not going to be a memorable hit for the 2025 election”.
“If you want to connect with young people, have some policies that actually matter to them: deal with student debt, talk about housing and make real changes that make a difference,” she said.
“If Peter Dutton needed a theme song, it should involve backflips.”