Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been peppered with questions about his claim the Voice to parliament referendum was not about a treaty.
Question Time kicked into a new gear as the Coalition zeroed in on the rising cost of living, while the government sought to score points on Robodebt.
PM QUIZZED ON TREATY STATEMENT
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton kicked off proceedings questioning Mr Albanese over whether he stood by his statement that the Voice referendum was not about treaty.
“At the opening of parliament last year, the Prime Minister declared ‘the Uluru Statement from the Heart represents an opportunity that must be seized and Voice, Truth, Treaty is the result,” Mr Dutton started.
“On 19 July, the Prime Minister said it was not natural to assume treaty would follow the voice and stated, ‘This is not about treaty.’ He said that four times.
“Was the Prime Minister being truthful at the opening of parliament or on 2GB?”
Mr Albanese began his response by saying the Indigenous Voice to parliament was a “very clear proposition” before being accused of filibustering.
Mr Dutton quickly declared a point of order, saying the question went directly to the “Prime Minister’s credibility”.
Mr Albanese urged the opposition to put their case to the Australian people.
“If you believe that there is something wrong with the question that Australians will actually vote for between October and December this year, then put that case. But you are incapable of doing so,” he said.
“The no campaign continues to raise things that are not a part of the question that is before the Australian people.”
LABOR RIPS INTO MORRISON OVER ROBODEBT
While the Coalition upped the ante on the Voice, Labor their attention to former prime minister Scott Morrison and his role in the robodebt scandal.
In a fierce speech on Monday, Mr Morrison described the findings as “disproportionate, wrong, unsubstantiated and contradicted by clear evidence” and lashed the government for a “campaign of political lynching”.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said Mr Morrison needed to remember he wasn’t a “victim”.
“Yesterday the Member for Cook claimed the adverse findings against him were disproportionate, wrong, unsubstantiated or contradictory,” Mr Shorten said.
“The purpose of that statement was to frame himself as the real victim of the Robodebt Royal Commission.
“The Member for Cook said, and I quote, ‘in making their finding, the commission sought to reverse the onus of proof to establish their claim’.
“Satire is truly dead in this country when the Member for Cook complains about the reversal of onus of proof on him, but not on the 434,000 who didn’t have the reverse onus.”
Mr Morrison, who was sitting on the backbench, called out at the end of Mr Shorten’s remarks: ‘That’s very personal, Bill”.
Later, the Prime Minister added his own two-cents, describing Mr Morrison as having “little self-awareness” and slammed Mr Dutton for standing behind the Cook MP.
“The leader of the opposition … called the royal commission a witch-hunt,” he said.
“Nothing to say about multiple people hounded for money they did not owe, the fact that some of them were driven to their deaths.
“His only sympathy for Liberal MPs who created the scheme and [to] double down on it.”