Subjects: Question Time and Michelle Landry; the government’s broken promise on a $275 cut to your power bills; Yeppoon and Yeppen Floodplain.
E&OE
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Well, if there’s any indication the PM might be feeling a little heat over his first budget, well; this may be him unleashing it yesterday after a question from a Nationals MP. Take a look:
[Excerpt]
ANTHONY ALBANESE:
The Bruce Highway under John Howard’s government put $1.3 billion in. We put $6.7 billion in, in half the time…but when government changed in 2013 it went on the back burner. So, you were in government for almost a decade, and you haven’t dug a hole.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I thought he was going to explode. Deputy PM Richard Marles joins us now and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Good morning guys. Nice to see you bright in early this morning.
Pete, to you first of all – do you believe Michelle Landry was bullied by the PM as she accuses?
PETER DUTTON:
I certainly do, and I think it’s evidenced by the fact that Michelle left the chamber essentially in tears and distraught. She’s had a lot of attacks, personal attacks against her and her family from the CFMEU and the Labor candidates on the ground in central Queensland for a number of years.
The way the tone in which the Prime Minister directed that anger yesterday at Michelle Landry – I’m sure it wasn’t intentional – but the fact is it conveyed what Labor would otherwise refer to in Tony Abbott’s day as a ‘misogynistic approach’. That’s the reality and they obviously have a double standard, but I think an apology to Michelle is warranted because I think his approach frankly was completely over the top. I mean, yell and shout at me, that’s fine, I’ve got thick skin; but I thought he just really crossed a line yesterday.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Richard, I do recall not so long ago, Albo saying he wanted to, quote, ‘change the way we do politics in Australia’. Is this what he meant by that?
RICHARD MARLES:
Well, I don’t accept any of what Peter’s just said then. I was in the chamber when this occurred, obviously. I think this was, you know, Anthony in full flight, making a whole lot of pretty valid points around infrastructure spending in and around Rockhampton. I think he was having a bit of fun with Peter about the difference between the Yeppen Floodplain and Yeppoon and that was what was going on.
So, I actually think this is pretty much a beat up. The Prime Minister did speak to Michelle Landry and put a call in to make sure she was fine. But politics is a robust business. This was the Prime Minister absolutely speaking passionately about a topic that he spent a lot of time on in his political career, which is infrastructure. And to be frank, I think a lot is being made here of not much at all.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Yeah, but Richard, I mean this sounds like the reverse happened when Pete was in power. If a woman is making an accusation of bullying, then Richard, don’t you have to investigate that as such and take the appropriate action?
RICHARD MARLES:
Well, there’s nothing to investigate. What was said was there you’ve just played it. People can make their own judgement. I think this was a politician speaking very passionately in a contested environment, which is what Question Time is and what it’s always been. You can run the video over all the questions that have been asked and all the questions that have been answered for decades and you’ll get a sense of what the contested environment is.
That clip that you just ran was, was Anthony speaking passionately about infrastructure, which is what he cares about. We all go into politics understanding the robust nature of it. So, there’s nothing to investigate, it is all there completely in the open.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Peter, do you accept that? That it wasn’t bullying, that it was just the robust nature of politics?
PETER DUTTON:
To be honest Karl, I don’t. I just think there is such a double standard that operates here. Had it been the other way, had I been shouting at one of the Labor women on the frontbench or the backbench in that way, then I think Labor would have accused straight away.
The double standard that Labor applies is, you know, quite remarkable and it is what it is. I mean Richard’s stated his position. The Prime Minister said there’s nothing to see here. So that’s as it is. I mean, he’s the Prime Minister. If he can’t reflect on what he said, then that’s an issue for him.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
All right. Richard, you have now broken a promise on power bills. I’m looking into a crystal ball. The next campaign comes up sooner than you think and you might see this ad:
The Labor Party think it’s okay to high five a broken promise. Written and authorised by Peter Dutton. Sunshine Beach, Sunshine Coast, Sunshine State – where it’s beautiful one day, pouring the next.
PETER DUTTON:
You’ve got too much time on your hands Karl. What’s going on?
KARL STEFANOVIC:
No…well, I’m supporting you here…
RICHARD MARLES:
I’m looking forward to that ad.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Richard, how will you respond at the next election campaign to that vicious ad from Peter Dutton?
RICHARD MARLES:
Oh, I’m so hoping that is the ad. We’re looking forward to that ad. I obviously don’t accept what you asserted. Look, power prices are a real challenge, and we get that. We’ve got a war in Ukraine which has wreaked havoc on international energy markets and that’s being experienced around the globe and we’re very focussed on what we need to do. That’s why the budget was all about cost of living and we’re looking at what other options we can take to reduce power prices in the here and now.
But let’s be clear, we inherited from the Coalition government a brutal energy system. That’s the bottom line here. They took more energy out of the system over their 10 years of government than they put in. They had 22 energy policies without being able to land one of them. That’s why we’re not in a very good position as a country to deal with the energy shock that we’re seeing around the world. So, we’ve got a pretty difficult legacy to deal with here, and we’re doing it in the long term and in the short term.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Peter, yesterday I mean, you came under attack, a vicious attack from the Prime Minister over your pronunciations. I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t – and I’m a pretty well known Queenslander – heard of the Yeppen Floodplain, but I have certainly heard of Yeppoon. But this was what happened in Parliament just after it happened:
[Excerpt]
ANTHONY ALBANESE:
Yeppen Floodplain. Yeppoon is a different place. Yeppoon is a different place and you might want to ask the Member for Capricornia because Yeppoon is on the coast, on the coast north of Rockhampton and Yeppen Floodplain is to the south.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
He went on to say several times, Pete. ‘Queenslander’. I mean, you are a disgrace this morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Karl, I’ll come to this in a second, but I just want to say that Richard Marles I think masked well before when you showed that ad, because it may well be Richard Marles as the Labor leader that we’re targeting in the ad by the next election. I think he is sharpening his knife. You heard it first on the Today Show! Watch this bloke.
Now Karlos, I’ve lived in Bundy, I’ve lived in Townsville, I’ve got family in Mackay and Townsville, in Rocky and I’ve driven that road hundreds of times. In fact, I was only up there the week before last and we drove in, but I must have been asleep as we came in because yeah, I got it wrong. I know where Yeppoon is, I’ve been out to the coast many times, but Yeppen Plains, I must say it’s not on the postcard, so, no.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Yeah, it escapes you. Especially when you’ve got a couple of black rat travellers next to you on the passenger seat, I understand completely. Have a great weekend guys. Appreciate it.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks guys.
[ends]