Treasurer Jim Chalmers was left red-faced after he was booed and accused of trespassing during a live interview in Perth.
Dr Chalmers was answering a question from Nat Barr on Channel Seven’s Sunrise breakfast morning show when an angry man interrupted them and accused them of intrusion.
“You can’t be here filming, mate,” the man is heard saying off-camera.
A woman from Dr. Chalmer’s team tries to tell the man that they “just have to finish” the interview while the distracted treasurer tries to answer a question.
“Of course not, Nat,” Dr. Chalmers begins. “You know, we’ve been making a similar argument about the pressures on the economy for some time now.”
The man in the background is then heard repeatedly asking the film crew to leave.
“I believe you three are aware that you are trespassing on private property, right?” he says to the crew before turning his attention to the red-faced treasurer.
—Do you understand that too, buddy? You understand that you are trespassing on private property and you refuse to leave? Yes? Okay. Can you please pick up the camera and leave? Thanks.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was left red-faced after being booed and accused of intrusion during a live TV interview (pictured)
Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr seemed completely oblivious to the unfolding incident as she continued to question Dr Chalmers about cost of living relief (pictured)
Barr seemed completely oblivious to the unfolding incident as she continued to question Dr Chalmers about an alleged rift between the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Albanian government.
This comes after the Treasurer accused interest rates of “wrecking the economy” in what many saw as a thinly veiled attack on the RBA.
“Is this an attempt to divert attention?” Barr asked Tuesday.
Mr Chalmers denied he was trying to divert attention to the RBA or that there had been a change in government rhetoric.
“I think it’s clear that the rise in interest rates… is holding back our economy. I’ve been insisting on this for several months,” he said.
He said it “would be strange” if, as treasurer, he could not explain weak economic growth and dismissed speculation about a rift with the RBA.
Dr Chalmers is pictured during Question Time in August.
“I think a lot of people understand the pressure of higher interest rates and that’s what I was acknowledging,” he said.
‘We have different responsibilities, but we have the same goal, and our goal is to control inflation in our economy.
“We’ve made some progress, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have to do it in a way that doesn’t put more pressure on people or destroy an economy that we believe is already quite weak.”
His comments come ahead of fresh GDP data due on Wednesday, which is expected to show 0.2 percent growth in the economy.
This would represent a drop in annual growth from 1.1 percent to 0.9 percent.
Mr Barr later asked Dr Chalmers if he was ratcheting up the language because he “doesn’t want Australians to think it’s their fault”.
He said he assumed “responsibility for our part in the fight against inflation.”
“I take responsibility for the surpluses we’ve delivered, for the cost of living relief we’re putting in place. We anticipated a weaker economy in the budget. We’re dealing with that now, so I take responsibility.”
