Treasurer Jim Chalmers said medicines and pensions were “not safe under the Coalition”. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“Now,when the Coalition says that this is overspending,what they really mean is they’re coming after Medicare and medicines and pensions,” Chalmers said while answering questions about the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook to be released on Wednesday. “If Angus Taylor and Peter Dutton think that extra spending for Medicare and medicines and pensions indexation is wasteful spending,then they need to come clean this week to the Australian people and say how much will they cut from Medicare and medicines and pensions.”
In 2016,Labor’s “Mediscare” campaign falselysuggested the Coalition wanted to privatise Medicare. Three years later,the tables had turned and various groups incorrectly claimed Labor wanted to implement a “death tax”,also known as an inheritance tax,fanned by similar messages from the Coalition government.
Speaking in Adelaide on Tuesday morning,the opposition leader said Chalmers had looked for scapegoats rather than budget repair.
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“As we’re seeing from the treasurer at the moment,he’s lost control of the budget,” Dutton said.
“This much is obvious. He has blamed Putin,he’s blamed Trump,he’s blamed Ukraine,he’s blamed Israel,he’s blamed everybody but himself,and Australian families know that it’s taken Labor two and a half years to severely damage the economy,which is why they’re finding it more and more difficult when they go to the supermarket to pay for their groceries.”
Chalmers slammed Dutton’s record on healthcare,saying the opposition leader “came after Medicare last time” and that medicines and pensions were “not safe under the Coalition”.