Natalie Barr has lost her patience with the federal election campaign, as she slammed Tanya Plibersek and Barnaby Joyce in a fiery Sunrise segment.
In the on-air debate on Monday morning, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce asked Ms Plibersek on if Labor’s policy to help first homebuyers, by buying a stake in their properties, applied to voters’ taxable or gross income.
Tanya was unable to answer the question directly, leading Joyce to erupt “Which one is it Tanya?!” and Barr to say she felt sorry for Australian voters.
The two senior politicians were each grilled about their party’s policies on helping first homebuyers, after the Coalition proposed a plan to allow Aussie families to withdraw up to $50,000 from their superannuation to buy their first property.
Labor is proposing the Federal government would contribute up to 40 per cent of the purchase price of a first home.
The plan would be only be accessible to voters on a taxable income of up to $90,000 per annum for singles, or $120,000 for couples, but the figures are unclear if they are gross or net payments.
“Which one is it Tanya?! It’s your policy,” an exasperated Mr Joyce asked. “Can you explain your policy? It’s the last week of the election!”
“How do you not understand your own policy?”
Barr piled onto Ms Plibersek, asking, “Can you answer the question?”
Ms Plibersek eventually confirmed Labor’s policy was based on taxable income, to which Mr Joyce implied she was told the figure by an off-camera staffer.
Natalie Barr then wrapped up the segment before it could delve further into an on-air screaming match.
“Can anyone feel sorry for the people of Australia this morning, trying to work out what on earth we are voting on this Saturday,” Barr said.
Ms Plibersek added “I feel embarrassed the deputy Prime Minister carries on like that, I really do.”
Barr fired back, “I feel sorry for us, because we’ve got to walk into those polling booths and we have to try and work out what on earth we’re voting on!”
Earlier in the segment, Tanya Plibersek slammed the Coalition’s housing affordability scheme, citing why such measures had not worked in the past as housing prices would skyrocket.
“There is a reason why John Howard, Peter Costello… and Malcolm Turnbull rejected this policy,” Ms Plibersek said.
“All the Liberals in the past have rejected it because you shouldn’t have to choose between housing today and poverty in old age.”
“Scott Morrison and his government have been around for almost a decade. It’s harder to buy a home, it’s harder to rent and it’s more expensive and there’s more homelessness than ever.”
Image credits: Sunrise
This article first appeared on OverSixty.