Australian actor Russell Crowe has stuck up for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after being asked by podcaster Joe Rogan: “What is wrong with Australia?”.
The Oscar-winning actor was talking with Rogan on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience when the podcaster asked the former Rabbitohs owner to explain what the issues are with our country.
But Crowe quickly hit back, saying he thought Australians were “lucky at the moment” and that political “smokescreens” were distracting from the real work being done by Albanese.
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“We have a Prime Minister who’s very much motivated by trying to help everybody,” Crowe said.
“Which should be the job of a politician, right? To improve the lives of the people they represent.”
Crowe said Albanese had “inherited a conga line of stupidity” but that he was trying to fix things.
Crowe added some members of the media and people in politics were trying to distract from recent achievements the prime minister had accomplished internationally including his recent positive meeting with US President Donald Trump.
“(He) gets off the plane wearing a Joy Division shirt, big band from his youth, and he’s just a relaxed character. He’s been wearing a suit and tie for weeks on the road,” he said.
“The member of the opposition wanted to point out, and did so in parliament, that Joy Division is a Nazi term … and it’s like ‘okay, what’s the point of that?’”
Crowe was referring to Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s attack on Albanese for “displaying the wrong values” by wearing a shirt depicting the album cover of Unknown Pleasures by punk band Joy Division.
“We all know it’s a band name, right?” Crowe continued.
“Just because you like the Rolling Stones doesn’t mean that you want rocks to be falling on people. What are you f***ing talking about?
“Picking up some pointless piece of minutiae and lighting it on fire to cover up the reality that the Prime Minister worked his ass off on behalf of the country and successfully achieved a bunch of things.
“(He) should be patted on the back, not pushed down the stairs.”
