Barnaby Joyce has labelled Labor’s Mediscare-style campaign a “cartwheeling cluster” and called Anthony Albanese a second-hand Johnny Cash after his appearance at Bluesfest.
But the Deputy Prime Minister dodged a question about whether the Coalition was running a similar scare campaign in claiming the opposition’s $78bn upgrade of the poles and wires network would force up power bills by $560 within a decade, without releasing modelling.
With the election campaign entering its second week, Mr Joyce became incensed when asked about whether the Coalition was committed to fully funding Medicare.
“Yes, what is this?” he began, before pointing to Mr Albanese’s gaffe of not knowing the unemployment rate or official cash rate and having to clarify Labor’s border protection policy.
“You know what really frustrates me is that the Labor Party starts this campaign not knowing the basics of common policy such as the cash rate at the Reserve Bank and then they don’t know the unemployment numbers, then the next iteration is they don’t understand their own policies – whether they believe in turn backs or don’t believe in turn backs and they can’t cost out their own health policies.
“Then the final part is they start lying about our policies.”
Making a local health announcement in Gladstone, Mr Joyce then took a swipe at Mr Albanese after he attended Byron Bay Bluesfest at the weekend where he introduced Jimmy Barnes to a mixed response from the crowd.
“It’s just lying. How pathetic have they become? And they doorstop that with Mr Albanese at the Bluesfest. It’s just a cartwheeling cluster,” he said.
Labor has seized on Anne Ruston being anxjmtzywnounced as the Coalition’s next health minister if it wins the election, pointing to comments she made in 2015 that Medicare was not sustainable.
They have claimed the Coalition will carry out “cuts by stealth” while announcing their own series of health-focused funding promises.
“The part I find really noxious is that when you’ve failed in everything else you start lying about the Coalition,” Mr Joyce said.
“Of course we are not going to privatise Medicare.
“It’s outrageous – and to put that sense of fear into people’s lives is also outrageous and it shows the type of people they are.”
But a reporter was quick to chime in and ask Mr Joyce whether the Coalition was doing the exact same thing with regards to energy.
“We are not going to be selling Medicare, privatising Medicare, getting rid of Medicare,” Mr Joyce answered, never directly addressing that point.
He then launched into another attack when asked about criticism from Labor’s state member for Gladstone Glenn Butcher about the Coalition not doing enough to get more GPs in the area.
Mr Joyce said Labor did not have a minister for regional health like the Coalition did, instead having a shadow assistant minister for the republic.
“The Labor Party doesn’t even have a minister for regional health, they don’t believe it’s important enough,” he said.
“But you can get a minister for the republic.
“So what I’d say to Mr Butcher, who is a good bloke, is … How about you ring up Albo when he’s finished up at the Bluesfestival (sic) and when he’s sick of being a second-hand Johnny Cash and not very good at it and say ‘mate rather than having a minister for the republic. I think what Gladstone and regional Queensland needs is a regional health minister’.
“And then they can go to regional areas and work out how to get doctors into regional areas which is exactly what we are doing.”
