Minister for Housing Tanya Plibersek snapped at Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce on Monday, after he claimed Labor’s rhetoric was completely disconnected from the concerns of voters during an appearance on Sunrise.
The on-air spat unfolded days after it was revealed headline inflation had fallen to a three-and-a-half-year low of 2.8 per cent, within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s two to 3 per cent target range.
However the underlying measure remains outside the target band.
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On Sunday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese trumpeted Labor’s achievements on inflation before announcing a pledge to wipe $16 billion worth of student debt — about $5520 from an average HELP debt.
Joyce and Plibersek joined Monique Wright for Hot Topics on Sunrise, where he was asked: “Barnaby, inflation is coming down, wages are going up, is that going to hurt your election chances?”
“What I can say is test the rhetoric — has your power bill gone up or down? The reason they give you electricity relief is because they’ve botched the electricity market. Do you feel when you go for groceries all of a sudden they are cheaper and more affordable or are you struggling?” Joyce responded.
“When you go to pay your rent, do you believe it’s completely reasonable and are you right on top of it or is it out of reach? When we test the rhetoric of what the Labor Party is saying against the reality of how you’re living, it is completely and utterly disconnected. So, go with the reality and realise they’re not up to the job.”
Plibersek then launched into Joyce, claiming the Coalition had no plan.
“Why don’t you ask Barnaby what his plan is? What is Barnaby’s plan to get prices down?” she began.
“He is great at having a whinge on TV but (Opposition Leader) Peter Dutton has not given us a single detail of his plan should he become prime minister. He said he wants to build nuclear reactors. He can’t even say how much it would cost. What is Barnaby’s plan for bringing down the cost of living?”
Joyce then trumpeted the opposition nuclear power plan, which includes building seven nuclear power plans in five states.
“We are going to build baseload power and try to fundamentally change how the electricity market works,” Joyce shot back.
“Even Queensland doesn’t want it,” Plibersek snapped.
“You’ve got to let me finish. They can’t hear if we speak at the same time,” a clearly impatient Joyce said.
“We’ve seen Labor’s plan in Queensland, the $12 billion pioneer pumped hydro was actually a $24 billion pumped hydro. You can’t just lobby the costs on people here in Mascot or around here, because they can’t pay for it.
“It’s complete fantasy.”