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The Lisa Wilkinson interview everyone's talking about today.

If you missed it this morning, this what happened.

Lisa Wilkinson is no stranger to kick-arse interviews — but her grilling this morning of senior Labor figure Anthony Albanese has the country talking.

In a segment on The Today Show, co-host Wilkinson asked the Infrastructure and Transport Minister about Labor leader Bill Shorten’s changed position on asylum seeker boat turnbacks.

In the interview, Albanese was forced to admit he had no idea his party leader Shorten was inclined to adopt a controversial aspect of the Liberal Party’s asylum seeker policy – turning back the boats.

And, well, was it awkward.

Lisa Wilkinson Anthony Albanese
Image via Channel Nine/ Today.

In case you missed it, Shorten announced on Wednesday that he was open to adopting Tony Abbott’s policy of turning back asylum seeker boats.

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(Read more about that here.)

It was a move that has angered Labor’s left faction, and left many supporters of the party scratching their heads and wondering how many shadow Cabinet members were actually behind the move.

So this morning, Wilkinson asked whether the opposition Leader had kept the announcement a secret from members of the Labor party.

In the interview, after some serious pressing by Wilkinson, Albanese effectively admitted he hadn’t been consulted about the announcement.

“Look the timing… ah… is something I wasn’t conscious of,” he admitted.

“The fact is we have been discussing these issues for some time. It is a difficult issue, it is a complex issue,” Albanese said.

“The fact is we have been discussing these issues for some time. It is a difficult issue, it is a complex issue,” he went on to say.

Watch the segment here:

Shorten’s move is said to have divided the party, with the Labor-left — including Albanese — opposed to turning around asylum seeker boats.

The issue will no doubt be discussed at today’s Labor National Conference in Melbourne.

What did you think of the interview?

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