Former Prime Minister John Howard says Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s failure to recall the national unemployment rate exposed one of his major drawbacks to lead the country after the federal election on May 21.

At a leadership breakfast at Crown Perth on Tuesday morning Howard was asked why he was unfazed by Albanese’s inability to correctly identify the national unemployment and interest rates at a press conference on the first full day of the campaign.

“He should have known that figure, let’s not muck about, he should have and anybody who wants to be prime minister should be on top of those figures,” he told the crowd.

Asked about Albanese’s economic stumble on Monday, Howard said: “Is that a serious question? Anthony Albanese didn’t know the unemployment, alright, so what?”

Howard made a similar blunder during the 2007 federal election campaign when he incorrectly stated the interest rate during an interview on A Current Affair.

Australia’s 25th Prime Minister is in WA bolstering support for the Liberal Party’s Hasluck and Swan campaigns and told Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings that Albanese’s embarrassing gaffe on just the first day of the six-week campaign showed his limitations.

“If he had a reputation for being on top of the economic argument it probably wouldn’t have mattered,” Howard told Bartlett on Thursday.

“One of his problems is that I can’t think of an economic or major political issue that he’s really championing.”

Tap PLAY to hear the full John Howard interview with Liam this morning

I’m with John Howard this time.

“So what?” pic.twitter.com/DWCAn2peh9

— The Sage (@SarkySage) April 12, 2022