After (theoretically) taking 24 hours off for ANZAC Day, ScoMo and Shorten got back on their respective buses on Friday and hit the campaign trail.
While there were no huge policy announcements yesterday it should be noted that Morrison went into a Townsville pub and absolutely would NOT skoll a beer. Refusing to give in to the chants of “he’s a piss-pot through and through…” ScoMo merely sipped on his beer and shook hands, prompting one dude to yell out “he’s no Bob Hawke.”
.@ScottMorrisonMP has refused to skol his beer in a Townsville pub! UnAustralian? #9Today pic.twitter.com/3jZzkusuoz
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) April 25, 2019
Away from the pubs today, Morrison was instead trying to chill talk around a preference deal with Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.
The ABC reported yesterday that the PM had made a deal with Palmer which would see the Liberals place UAP second, or above Labor, on its how-to-vote cards in upper and lower house seats.
This of course prompted outrage from other sides of parliament: Penny Wong said it was a case of the “ad man and the con man“, while others in the Labor Party tried their best to remind Australians that Palmer still owes $7 million to employees of his now-liquidated Townsville nickel refinery.
That whole mess left 800 people unemployed and had Palmer tiptoeing the line between whether or not he was going to pay them back. For the record: Palmer has spent $40 million on political advertising so far.
And while Tony Burke and Anthony Albanese denied having similar preference conversations with ol’ Clive, the man himself came out on Friday afternoon to say that he had indeed spoken with the Labor Party.
Also today, Palmer was forced to defend the fact his “Make Australia Great” corflutes were made in China.
Labor started the day by announcing a big $660 million towards family violence prevention, as well as an extra $107 million going towards combatting Indigenous Australians’ disadvantage in the justice system. That family violence prevention package would double the current government’s spending.
Environment Minister Melissa Price was in the news, giving the green light to another mine in sneaky circumstances, this one the Yeelirrie Uranium mine in Western Australia. Last month, Price drew controversy for approving the water management plan around the Adani coal mine in the Top End, despite government scientists not exactly calling it a fantastic idea.
Scott Morrison also went back to an old favourite, telling the people of Flynn that he loves the coal mining industry because of the 55,000 jobs within the industry.
Bill Shorten hit back at Greens leader Richard Di Natale, who had previously said he wanted to work with Labor on climate policy in a similar style as seen with the Gillard government. Shorten accused Di Natale of “looking for relevance at the moment.”
“I don’t blame him for doing that, it’s legitimate, but I’m going to lead a Labor government,” he said.
“There will not be signings at the table with a sprig of wattle for everyone.”
“Let’s see what happens when we get elected but I’m not going to have this argument that somehow, we are going to go into coalition with the Greens.”
Di Natale responded on Twitter:
The Greens are ready to work constructively with the next Government to deliver the best climate policy possible, and I’m pleased Bill Shorten says he is open to listening to the Greens. And if he doesn’t like wattle we could do banksias…
— Richard Di Natale (@RichardDiNatale) April 26, 2019
The Greens also announced a planned health reform package that would put dental care under Medicare and reduce out-of-pocket expenses.
In other news outside of the major parties, noted dickhead-about-town Fraser Anning held a press conference at one of the flashpoints of the Cronulla riots, which were started and fuelled mostly by angry white dudes with southern cross tattoos upset about non-white people coming to “their” beach.
A Fraser Anning supporter has been arrested after an alleged assault on a News Corp journalist and cameraman in Cronulla.
Full story: https://t.co/yBKWdfz8tZ via @dailytelegraph pic.twitter.com/G0KrNauVsx
— Christine Vanden Byllaardt (@cvbyllaardt) April 26, 2019
After the presser – which Anning used to dodge questions asking for facts to support claims – a journalist was harassed and another allegedly physically assaulted by a teenager. The kid was arrested by police and thrown into the back of a police wagon, but not before ripping up a photographer’s shirt.
Later, Anning tweeted about his party’s plans to ban “all Muslim and Black (??) immigration.” Dickhead.
Finally, the public finally got what they’ve been waiting for: another live televised debate.
Sky News will host the shitshow, which will be aired from Brisbane on May 3 at 6:30pm.
