Barnaby Joyce has criticised Tanya Plibersek for constantly smiling during a heated breakfast TV debate about Australia’s cost of living crisis.
The former National leader was trying to explain how a coalition government would stabilise the economy when the Labour leader stepped in and accused him of not really having a plan to combat the crisis during a joint appearance on Sunrise.
An exasperated Mr Joyce tried to make his point despite repeated interruptions from the smiling Ms Plibersek.
“(Labor) are just sending (immigrants) to Australia. They think that’s how they’re going to solve the problem, just by sending people,” Joyce said.
“He has no plan,” Plibersek replied.
“I’ll give you an answer… Do you think you’ve done a good job just by getting people in so other people can’t get a house?” Mr. Joyce replied.
“Why are you smiling? It’s not funny at all,” he said when he saw the Environment Minister smiling.
Ms Plibersek said the government is “fully focused” on reducing living costs after a recent Resolve Political Monitor poll showed 51 per cent of voters think it is the federal government’s job to do so.
National MP Barnaby Joyce has criticised Prime Minister Tanya Plibersek for smiling during her discussion of the cost of living crisis during her appearance on Sunrise.
Host Natalie Barr repeatedly tried to steer the conversation back on topic as the two political guests continually talked over each other.
Presenter Natalie Barr He repeatedly tried to get back on topic while the two political guests kept talking at the same time.
Ms Plibersek argued that Labour had already managed to reduce inflation from six per cent to three per cent.
He accused the previous coalition government of causing the crisis and insisted that Albanese’s government had “inherited inflation”.
Ms Plibersek said the government is working “every day to make sure people understand that our goal is to help with the cost of living”.
He said the opposition had no plan with just a few months to go before the next federal elections.
Mr Joyce rejected Ms Plibersek’s claims and accused the government of only caring about “issues like what is included in the census”.
He said the opposition’s plan was “‘keep our baseload power running’.
“One of the key elements that keeps inflation down is having affordable energy. Affordable energy. It’s used for… everything else we do,” he said.
“Why are you smiling? It’s not funny at all,” Joyce asked Plibersek when she noticed the environment minister smiling during her comments.
Mr Joyce also said the Coalition would focus on infrastructure, focusing on regional roads and dams, two areas he said the government had overlooked.
Ms Plibersek said the opposition had done nothing to stop the closure of 24 coal-fired power stations, but Mr Joyce responded that the plants “closed on your watch, Tanya”.
The discussion turned to immigration when he accused the government of a massive importation of immigrants that had caused a rental crisis.
The race to retain power at the next election has been tight in recent months, with Albanese narrowly edging out opposition leader Peter Dutton as the preferred prime minister by 35-34 in the latest Resolve poll.
The Albanese government maintained its lead over the Coalition by 51-49 in terms of two-party preference among 1,614 voters surveyed.
However, on economic management, Dutton leads by a considerable margin: 37 per cent of Australians think he could do a better job than he does. Albanese with 26 percent support.