Anthony Albanese is 's****ty' at Jim Chalmers and 'praises Penny Wong and other senior Cabinet ministers – but rarely singles out the Treasurer for praise

The growing rift between Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers has led the Prime Minister to belittle the Treasurer during Cabinet meetings, it is claimed.

Sky News political commentator Sharri Markson quoted unnamed 'Labour sources' as saying Mr Albanese agrees with Mr Chalmers because he should take the blame for breaking his promise not to deliver the phase three tax cuts to change.

This follows a Labor insider writing that the Prime Minister's relationship with the Treasurer has been 'fragmented' over the policy lapse – to the extent that the pair do not even speak to each other.

Markson introduced the Thursday night episode of her show Sharri by saying that a seething Mr. Albanese has begun to downplay Chalmers' role in the government.

In Cabinet meetings, Albanese will now only recognize the treasurer as part of a duo with Finance Minister Katy Gallagher by condescendingly calling them 'Jim and Katy,'” her source said.

This reflects Mr Albanese's frustration that the blame for abandoning the pledge not to interfere with the phase three tax cuts has fallen on him personally, while Dr. Chalmers continue to rise.

A 'well-placed Labor source' told Markson that 'tensions are rising for the obvious reason that Jim is doing well and Albo sees that and is annoyed'.

Late last year, even readers of the business-oriented Australian Financial Review rated Dr Chalmers as the Albanian government's best-performing minister, after Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Albanese was quickly rated as the worst-performing minister in his own government, behind only Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney.

Last month, another Australian Financial Review survey, this time of ten leading economists, gave Dr Chalmers a solid score of seven out of ten for his performance as treasurer.

Mr Albanese has been dogged by accusations that he has broken his word since he took to the stage at the National Press Club to announce the changes to the third stage of tax cuts, which will come into effect from July 1 if passed by Parliament are accepted.

The dramatic reversal came just 18 months after the Prime Minister repeatedly stressed in an interview with 7News Spotlight that he would not make any changes to tax cuts.

In that interview, Mr. Albanese spent more than two minutes putting aside any doubt, saying, “My word is my duty” and “I have always been a man of my word.”

“During the election campaign we said that we would maintain the position already enshrined in law,” he said in July 2022.

“I believe that if you go to an election and make your promises, you should keep them.”

The opposition has already launched an attack advert comparing Mr Albanese's abandonment of the tax plan to former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard's broken election promise not to introduce a carbon tax, labeling both as 'Labour lies'.

On Thursday, Ms Gallagher was forced to deny that the Prime Minister and Treasurer were at each other's throats after an explosive column in the Australian newspaper by former Labor chief Cameron Milner.

Mrs. Gallagher told breakfast television on Thursday that the allegations in a newspaper column by Mr Milner, Bill Shorten's former chief of staff, were absolutely false.

In a piece that raised eyebrows in Canberra, Milner claimed on Wednesday that the relationship between the prime minister and his chief minister “used to be tense, but apparently they don't talk anymore”.

But Ms Gallagher said this is 'absolutely not' the case in an interview with Karl Stefanovic on the Today show on Thursday morning.

'I work closely with both boys and I can tell you: they are good friends. They work closely together and it's great to work with both of them.

'We are in daily contact and work closely together. I don't know where that speculation comes from, but it's certainly not true.'

Stefanovic pointed out that the speculation came directly from Milner, who has had a long and well-documented relationship with former Prime Minister hopeful Shorten.

He asked Ms. Gallagher if she was saying he was not a reliable source.

'There are many opinions. Some of these are true, some are not, and that is certainly not true. I can leave that alone.'

It is widely believed that Dr Chalmers has long been an internal critic of the Albanian government's original plan to maintain the Morrison government's phase three tax cut programme.

According to Mr Milnernow director of lobbying firm GXO Strategies, Dr. Chalmers told his colleagues about the decision to break the promise: “Tails I win, heads he loses.”

Mr Milner praised Dr. Chalmers then effusive, calling him “Labour's intellectual future” and the Prime Minister “must stop holding him back” from introducing tax reform.

'Chalmers is ambitious as Prime Minister, but also ambitious for Labour.'

2GB Drive host Chris O'Keefe also added weight to allegations that the relationship between the Prime Minister and the Treasurer was tense on Wednesday afternoon.

But the radio host did not suggest that their relationship was so tense that they could not talk to each other.

“I don't know if they no longer speak, but I can tell you that the relationship between Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers, his treasurer, is tense,” he said.

'That's not necessarily unusual for prime ministers and treasurers, just think of Keating and Hawke, Costello and Howard, Morrison and Turnbull.

'But they don't talk? When they don't talk at all, the tension is taken to a whole new level. That would surprise me.'

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has taken to the airwaves in an attempt to fuel speculation from the Labor leadership.

In an interview with Ray Hadley before the Phase Three changes were confirmed, Dutton said: “If the Prime Minister abandons the tax cuts in Phase Three, his leadership is dead, buried and cremated.

“Let me tell you that I believe this to be the truth.

“I really think Chalmers and (former leadership rival) Bill Shorten and others are rubbing their hands at the moment, thinking that the Prime Minister has finally destroyed credibility with the Australian public and that the Australian public will not support a liar as Prime Minister.”

Mr Albanese and Dr Chalmers have been contacted for comment.