Its beyond time Albo was called out for his disingenuous charade. This is the big lie the PM cant stop telling, writes PETER VAN ONSELEN

While both Albanese and Dutton want to accuse the other about being deceptive and misleading in their policies, that isnt the real lie being perpetrated on the Australian people.

The big way voters are being misled is when political leaders duck and weave when questioned about the preference deals they choose to make.

Few are better at the disingenuous charade than the PM.

Whenever Anthony Albanese is asked about Labor doing preference swap deals with the Greens he bats the questions away, claiming they arent his decisions to make.

Albo endlessly claims that head office makes those calls, refusing to buy into the argument that Labor chooses to preference a party like the Greens that holds radical views on a range of issues.

If the PM is to be believed, the strategic decisions of head office are beyond his pay grade. What an absolute lie.

Political leaders intervene all the time to overturn head office decision making. Albo has done it time and time again to save MPs in their pre-selections, or even to stop entire state divisions from choosing their candidates democratically.

Hes done it to toss controversial candidates aside too. Claiming he has nothing to do with preference choices is so absurd as to be insulting to those listening to his lines of dismissal.

Albo has endlessly claimed Labor head office makes the calls on preferences - even though he occupies the highest elected office in the land 

Albo isnt the first leader to hide behind the decisions party officials make on his behalf and wont be the last. Above is the PM, his fiancée Jodie Haydon and their dog, Toto during a campaign event 

In short hes treating voters with contempt when making the claim.

Albo isnt the first leader to curl up and hide behind the decisions party officials make on his behalf, and he wont be the last. It happened during the Coalitions time in power too.

But the fraud being peddled on voters is also the height of hypocrisy, because weve heard the likes of Albo regularly demand that the other side of politics intervene to remove controversial candidates or refuse preference deals.

He did it to One Nation and Clive Palmer, calling on Liberals not to do deals.

Yet in the here and now Albo is preferencing a radical Green in his own electorate who has made all sorts of claims against Israel that the PM himself rejects as untrue and unfair.

Why? Because its part of the bigger picture: preference swaps mean that Greens are helped into senate positions and Labor marginal seat MPs are helped over the line by Greens preferences.

Its common sense strategy which, as Ive said, both sides regularly engage in.

But just own up to it. Admit it rather than brush it off as if its not a decision in your remit. 

I guess Albo is only the PM and Labor Party leader - a weak vessel under the decisionmaking thumb of his National Secretary.

Its absurd.