Multimillionaire construction boss slams Anthony Albanese as the ‘worst PM we’ve ever had’: Voters in key seats reveal what they REALLY think about PM – and hit Dutton with a major wake-up call too

Voters in crucial western Sydney seats have fired a warning at Anthony Albanese and his besieged Labor government as the cost of living crunch hits home. 

Daily Mail Australia asked voters in Marsden Park, Oran Park and Wallacia – key suburbs both major parties will be fighting to win over at the next election – for their assessment of the Prime Minister’s performance halfway through his term.

And while young families in particular are yet to abandon him entirely, they want Mr Albanese to do more to fix the economy at home and take fewer trips overseas. 

Property owners in Wallacia, near the new western Sydney airport development, were the most deeply unsatisfied with the PM’s achievements.

Steve Allam, of the Allam Homes multimillionaire construction family, said people were ‘scared’ and slammed Mr Albanese – who was labelled a ‘beta male’ in a recent Redbridge focus group – as the worst PM he had seen.

‘I’ve never been worried about Australia before, but I am now,’ he said. 

Despite a recent Newspoll showing that Peter Dutton’s Coalition now commands 50 per cent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis, very few voters in the must-win seats of Macarthur and Hume had any opinion at all on the Opposition Leader.

Some voters said they weren’t sure he would be any better, while others questioned the influence any PM really had over the cost of living and rising interest rates.

But they all made one thing clear: the cost of living is the one issue that matters to them the most, and it will sway their vote come election day.

Steve Allam, retired builder

Steve Allam, a retired builder whose family founded the Allam Homes construction empire, told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Albanese is ‘the worst Prime Minister we’ve ever had’.

‘I’ve never been worried about Australia before, but I am now,’ he said.

He is now retired and breeds horses, but still has an interest in the industry – and he says it’s tough right now. 

Mr Allam’s family have been in the building business for 40 years. 

‘But people are scared, they’re uncertain, they don’t know if they go out of work what the next good job will be, when it will come. 

‘It’s tough times. People worry about the cost of living above all else.’

Mr Allam slammed the government for ‘wasting’ so much money on the Voice to Parliament referendum, saying there was now ‘nothing to show for it’. 

Mr Allam – who stressed his personal opinion is not that of Allam Homes – said voters deserve better than the politicians representing them right now.

Instead, he said real ideas were needed to help young, aspirational families. 

Affordable housing, he argued, should be the focus for Sydney’s western suburbs.

‘This area should’ve been rezoned for affordable housing, getting young people into their own homes,’ he said.

His 100-acre property in Wallacia, 70km west of Sydney’s CBD, is almost entirely encircled land earmarked for developments related to the city’s new airport

However, he said there was open space a little further west going underutilised.

‘Instead, they suggested demountables (to tackle the housing crisis),’ he said. 

‘Can you believe it? Bloody demountables. Families don’t want to raise kids in demountables. People deserve better.

‘All Albo cares about is getting a pat on the back, smiling for a photo with (Chinese President Xi) Jinping. We need someone who can lead this country, and he can’t do it. Simple as that.’ 

When asked about whether he thought Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was the right man for the job, Mr Allam sighed.

‘I don’t know if Dutton’s any better,’ he said. ‘He’s not well liked. He doesn’t look like a Prime Minister. It was the same as Abbott, you struggle when you don’t look like you’re meant to be the Prime Minister.’ 

Karen, Donut King franchisee

When Karen arrived in Australia with her family 11 years ago, they promised themselves they would work hard, put down roots and – rich or poor – make Australia their home.

Her parents had escaped China in the 1960s and attempted to build a life for themselves in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand before moving to western Sydney.

Karen invested in a Donut King franchise in Oran Park but, as the years have worn on, the work has only gotten tougher.

Now, she works from 5am to 10pm, seven days a week just to keep afloat.

‘I take 10 minute naps here and there when I can, but I have to get here earlier and earlier and we close later, she said.

‘I work more and more but get less and less.’ 

Karen said she is not a political person, but trusts the government does its best to help people like her.

But that doesn’t make it any easier to stomach when the bills pile up and the exhaustion sets in. 

‘We have given everything to Australia and we are here now so, rich or poor, we are staying in Australia,’ she said. 

Karen will have just one day off this festive season – Christmas Day.

But she doesn’t like to complain.

‘There are always people who have it worse… We have seen worse,’ she said. 

Jaiden and Samina, tradie couple

Like most young Aussies, tradie couple Jaiden and Samina, from Marsden Park, are feeling the pinch of interest rate rises and the soaring price of fuel and groceries. 

Samina said she had no doubt the government should be held responsible for the price hikes.

‘The cost of living is all I really care about,’ she said. 

‘I’m not a politics person, I don’t think about (politicians), but of course it’s the government’s fault.’

Samina said her landlord has hiked her rent several times as interest rates went up.

‘It’s harder than before, my family and friends feel it too,’ he said.

The couple said prices would need to come back under control and stay that way  for a sustained period of time before Mr Albanese could count on their vote again. 

‘It’s just all about the cost of living,’ they said.  

David, business owner and father-of-three

Father-of-three David, also from Marsden Park, said Mr Albanese should ignore the criticism as he was doing a ‘fine job’. 

While his family have had to rein in their spending due to the cost-of-living crisis, David said things wouldn’t be any different under Mr Dutton. 

‘People shouldn’t put that all on one person,’ he said. 

David said the Reserve Bank lifting interest rates was out of the government’s control. 

He said there was still a long time until the next election, and plenty of time for public opinion to change, but his vote won’t swing based on rising prices alone.

As a small business owner, David said he’d pay closer attention to which party had better policies for small business owners and that, ultimately, above all else that is what would decide his vote. 

Matt, tradie

Matt, 59, from Wallacia, did not mince his words when asked about Mr Albanese’s performance as Prime Minister.

‘He’s just s**t,’ he said. 

‘The bloke’s hardly here. 

‘They’ve all got no clue. Best prime minister we’ve ever had is John Howard.’

Matt’s father is dealing with the state Labor government rezoning his land near the new western Sydney airport. 

He claims his father was hit with a $90,000 bill because the government decided his land was no longer residential.

‘Who’s got that kind of money?’ he said. 

Matt said the cost of living was the issue that matters most to him and has already decided who should tackle the crisis.

‘Peter Dutton is the man for the job,’ he said. ‘But I am a Liberal voter anyway.’ 

Steph, admin worker

Having recently purchased her first apartment off the plan, Steph, from Oran Park, is watching every rate rise with a sense of dread.

Pair that with the rising cost of groceries and petrol, and it’s getting tough for the newly engaged admin worker.

However, Steph told Daily Mail Australia she hasn’t really thought of the rate rises as a political issue. 

‘It’s scary to think about, but I don’t really think it’s his (the PM’s) fault,’ she said. 

The next election is still too far away to think about, but Steph said she already knows the cost of living won’t be a factor for her when casting her ballot.

‘I don’t know how much power he has as PM to change costs,’ she said. ‘It’s not really linked to any one leader for me.’ 

Julie, cattle and wheat farmer

From her cattle property at Wallacia on Monday afternoon, Julie had one message for Mr Albanese: ‘Australia will not be able to feed itself if we keep this up.’

It’s a stark warning on the back of a new Murray Darling Basin agreement which sees more water in rural communities funnelled away from farmers and into government hands, and at a time when a push toward renewables is ‘sending prices wayward’.

Julie and her husband run cattle in western Sydney but also grow wheat and canola near Wagga Wagga. 

They’re feeling the pinch in both export industries, and in their day-to-day lives.

‘(This government) takes and takes, but then expects us to pay more,’ she said.

‘Prices have gone up $100 in some cases – for farming supplies, for feed for cattle, for ourselves. And it runs through to the prices of goods.’

Speaking of Mr Albanese, Julie admitted she ‘thinks he’s no good’.

She knows she won’t vote Labor at the next election, and she’s not looking toward the Greens either, but she’s still not sure about Mr Dutton and his Coalition. 

‘Taking farmers’ water is never a good idea. It gets harder and harder, and farmers work hard enough as it is,’ she said.