Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken aim at Opposition Leader Angus Taylor's speech at the Midwinter Ball, suggesting it was poorly received. During question time, Liberal MP Ben Small asked about Joseph Dowd, who spent over $17,000 on billboards critical of tax changes and is spending another $16,000 to play the prime minister in a tennis match – an auction item from the ball.
Small asked: "So when Joseph gets to the lodge, will the prime minister tell him why his word on negative gearing and capital gains taxes was broken, or will Joseph be served up, another Labor tax hike?" Albanese laughed as Speaker Milton Dick called it a “very, very, very broad question” that would get a broad answer.
Albanese mocks Taylor's speech
Albanese then took a jab at Taylor's speech from the previous night, which was meant to be off the record but was reported to have not received many laughs. "If I was someone on that side, led by this leader of the opposition, I wouldn’t be mentioning last night. I would pretend it was all a bad dream! I’m sure you were there, and many were, and we’re not supposed to talk about it, in spite of the fact he just came in and asked a question about it!" Taylor retorted: "You’re a bad dream mate."
PM defends tax stance
Albanese continued: "The leader of the opposition mentioned him in his speech, and he’s obviously a mate, and they think it’s very clever to do all this … But let me make this point as well – if it’s a choice between someone who’s in the sector somewhere and who’s got enough money to buy billboards and spend all this, or first–home buyers struggling to get into a home, I’m for the first–home buyers! And let me tell you this – the more they go down this road, the more aces we will serve up." A Labor MP shouted: "Game, set, match!"
