Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese experienced a brief misstep on Thursday when he appeared to fall off a stage during a campaign event. However, he quickly regained his footing and assured attendees he was “sweet.”
The 62-year-old leader of the centre-left Labor Party was posing for photos after delivering a speech at the Mining and Energy Union Conference in New South Wales when he inadvertently stepped back and lost his balance. Gasps filled the room as he momentarily disappeared from view.
Video footage from the event captured the moment Albanese stumbled off the stage. Nevertheless, he promptly stood up and gestured with both hands to signal that he was unharmed. Speaking later in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he downplayed the incident.
“I stepped back one step. I didn’t fall off the stage … just one leg went down, but I was sweet,” he said.
Albanese is currently in the midst of his campaign for Australia’s national election, set for May 3. His Labor Party is locked in a tight race with the conservative Liberal-National opposition, led by Peter Dutton. As the election date nears, both parties are vying for voter confidence in what is shaping up to be a closely contested political battle.
Melissa Enoch
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