“They don’t represent disgruntled Liberals,” he said. “They represent a group in the community that wants to destroy the Liberal government, it’s as simple as that.”

Declaring Prime Minister Scott Morrison had demonstrated a “mastery of the detail of government”, Howard said: “Being in charge of a government is not easy. You can’t wing it, you can’t make it up on the spot ... You’ve got to know at least roughly what the unemployment rate is.”

Howard said Albanese’s failure to name the correct unemployment rate attracted so much attention because it “symbolised an inadequacy for the job” and a lack of expertise on economic issues.

If the mistake had been made by former treasurers Peter Costello or Paul Keating then no one would have made a big deal of it, he said.

On the day Albanese made the gaffe, Howard provided some cover for the opposition leader: “Anthony Albanese didn’t know the employment rate, so what?” he told reporters at the time.

Even though the Liberal Party holds Bennelong with a seemingly safe margin of 6.9 per cent, both parties believe the result in the multicultural seat will be extremely close on election night.

Albanese was campaigning in the electorate alongside Labor candidate Jerome Laxale, a former Ryde mayor, before being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Loading

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg campaigned in Bennelong last week alongside Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy, a former partner at the McKinsey consultancy firm.

Kennedy grew up in the Bennelong area and attended Epping Boys High School, but is working to raise his profile in the electorate after spending several years working in the US. He was living in Maroubra, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, before being preselected for the seat.

Kennedy said he was expecting a “fierce and tight” election result, warning Liberal members: “We must fight to keep Bennelong blue. We must mobilise and mobilise now.”