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Anthony Albanese Says He Won't Challenge Shorten As Leader... Yet

Will Albo be the next Labor Leader?
Anthony Albanese has played down rumours that he will challenge Bill Shorten for the Labor leadership... sort of.
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Anthony Albanese has played down rumours that he will challenge Bill Shorten for the Labor leadership... sort of.

Labor's Anthony Albanese has played down rumours that he is seeking to challenge Bill Shorten for the leadership of the party, although he refused to deny a future leadership bid.

Appearing on the ABC's 7.30, Albanese compared the Federal election to a footy match that has gone into extra time and said a decision could not be made before the make-up of the next parliament is known.

"Now, you don't even consider changing who the captain is during extra time. We have had an extraordinary result on Saturday," he said.

"Of course, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves and we need to wait and see what the make-up of the parliament is. It's hard to see Labor having an absolute majority in our own right."

However, he also told 7.30 host Leigh Sales that no one can be the leader of a party forever.

"No-one's leader indefinitely. We're a political party more than 100 years old," he said.

"Certainly, I think we will continue forward with Bill Shorten as the leader and I'll be playing a role as part of the team."

That's a very leisurely route you've taken to "no, I will not challenge Bill", Mr Albanese. 😏 #ausvotes#730report

— Philip Partalis (@BoyJupiter) July 4, 2016

A potential Albanese challenge if Labor lost the election has been the subject of speculation following strong results at the polls in his own seat of Grayndler in Sydney's inner west, according to The Daily Telegraph.

When quizzed about whether he would take the opportunity to contest the leadership if it arose, Albanese asserted that it would be a decision to be made at a later point.

"Well, that won't be a decision to be made now, that is a decision for down the track, once we know the composition of the parliament," he said.

"I've always been a team player, and always put the party first before my own interests and I certainly will be continuing to do that as I always have."

Anthony Albanese knew that question would be asked and deliberately gave a vague non-answer. #auspol

— David Sharaz (@DavidSharaz) July 4, 2016

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