Anthony Albanese last Tuesday helped open a new TAFE facility in Newcastle, emphasising its role in bolstering the area’s renewable energy workforce, before revealing a clean energy project in the Victorian city of Wodonga.

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But Tony Barry, director at independent pollster Redbridge Group, says the latest efforts seem like “a bunch of unconnected tactical announcements” that weren’t enough to take the spotlight from reporting over Mr Albanese’s free flight upgrades or his recently purchased $4 million property.

“These stories are easy to understand and reinforce an existing prejudice that he’s not really in touch with Australians that are struggling with cost-of-living pressures,” he told AAP.

“People are hurting, they need relief and it’s building grievance in the electorate.

“He needs a signature policy as opposed to an announcement, and he’s falling into the trap of governing by press release.”

The two Tuesday announcements are part of the federal government’s Future Made in Australia proposal, a manufacturing package to fund clean energy projects and create jobs in the decarbonisation transition.

It is one of the government’s signature policies and has often been used to contrast Labor’s clean energy platform with the opposition’s nuclear power plan.

“It sort of lacks definition and again, it’s not enough just to announce that, you have to communicate it,” he said.

“Some stories in policy areas like energy, for example, are incredibly complex… and hard to present because they are gargantuan in size.”

Compared to his predecessors Paul Keating and Bob Hawke, Mr Albanese does not have the communication skills to sell these kinds of policies, which makes it hard for him to leverage opportunities like Tuesday’s events, Mr Barry said.

Energy will be a key issue at the upcoming federal election, which must be held by May 2025, and the policy battle is expected to play out in the resource-rich electorate of Hunter.

The opposition has yet to release the costings for its nuclear plan, which aims to establish seven power plants at former coal hubs – including the Hunter Valley – from the mid 2030s.

Meanwhile, Mr Albanese revealed the federal and NSW governments will invest $60 million across five years for the Hunter Net Zero Manufacturing Centre of Excellence at the TAFE in Newcastle to help build skills and support the workforce needed for the renewable energy sector.

Another $17 million will be provided through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to help build Australia’s first commercial concentrated solar thermal heat plant, slated for completion in Wodonga by 2026.

The new build will help generate sufficient heat for manufacturing processes and is expected to create 80 jobs during construction and reduce gas use.

The prime minister said the funding would help secure renewables in years to come.

“Creating jobs, investing in our regions, reducing emissions and bringing down power prices – that’s what we’re delivering,” Mr Albanese said.

“Peter Dutton and the coalition want to deliver the most expensive form of new energy – nuclear – in two decades’ time, but refuse to tell Australians what it will cost them.”

Though opinion has turned against Labor since the 2022 vote, election analyst Kevin Bonham says the party has room to bounce back.

“Lots of governments fall well behind during their terms and then recover from that, and this government hasn’t even fallen clearly behind,” he told AAP.

“While (polling) is lacklustre, it’s not panic stations.”

By Kat WONG and Andrew BROWN, AAP