Australia’s national Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has rejected suggestions that blue-collar workers have turned their backs on the Labor party following a loss in the Upper Hunter byelection over the weekend. This comes as Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon warned that Labor’s primary vote in regions like the Upper Hunter had “collapsed to existential levels” and that its brand as the blue-collar party was in jeopardy. The Upper Hunter byelection loss should act as a wake-up call, he said. “They (voters) say we talk the talk but don’t walk the walk,” he told reporters. Fitzgibbon has threatened to quit the left-wing party, concerned that voters did not trust the party to protect blue-collar or mining jobs as it focussed on inner-city progressives. Fitzgibbon, whose electorate shares similar characteristics to the Upper Hunter, resigned from the shadow cabinet halfway through last year’s term due to having opposing views on climate change. Prime Minister Scott Morrison held similar …