Albanese happy not to be Labor leader

Labor frontbencher and former leadership contender Anthony Albanese says he's happy to remain part of the Bill Shorten team and not the leader.

Anthony Albanese has ruled out challenging Bill Shorten for the Labor leadership before the next election.

The former leadership contender, who was defeated by Mr Shorten in a ballot of ALP grassroots and caucus members, has been the constant subject of speculation about his ambitions.

But the speculation intensified when he criticised a party advertisement about standing up for Australian jobs featuring Mr Shorten and a predominantly white cast as a "shocker".

Mr Albanese told Sky News on Wednesday it was "absolute nonsense" to say he wanted to challenge Mr Shorten and people should not read anything into his comments about the ad.

"We have our leader, I'm part of the team and I'm very happy staying in the job I'm in," he said.

Asked if he could rule out a challenge ahead of the next election, Mr Albanese said: "Absolutely.

"There's nothing going on on our side," the MP for Grayndler said.

"I'm happy to be part of Bill Shorten's team. I'm out there arguing the case and indeed what I said about the ad is perfectly consistent with what Chris Bowen said and what Bill Shorten did himself, who pulled the ad."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull taunted Mr Shorten in question time, accusing the Labor leader of feeling the pressure from not only the coalition but Mr Albanese.

"The only thing that matches the anxiety of the leader of the opposition is the energy of the member for Grayndler in the press gallery today," Mr Turnbull said.


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Source: AAP


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