Politics

Malcolm Turnbull backtracks on ‘offensive’ comments towards over-60s

Jun 20, 2018

The gap between Labor and the Coalition government has tightened. Source: Getty.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has backtracked on comments he made about over-60s during parliament on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the PM took aim at the Labor party and Opposition leader Bill Shorten over how they reacted to comments he made the day before. As you may recall, Turnbull made headlines when he said: “The 60-year-old aged-care worker in Burnie is entitled to aspire to get a better job.”

Turnbull appeared to suggest people over the age of 60 needed to get better paid jobs if they wanted better tax breaks. The comments came during question time where Turnbull and Shorten butted heads over the government’s proposed $144 billion personal income tax plan.

On Wednesday, the PM explained exactly what he meant by the comments.

“Our job, we believe, is the government’s role is to enable Australians to do their best,” he said during a passionate speech, before throwing insults at Shorten.

“You’ve just heard from this slimy, insinuating, patronising leader of the opposition that they believe that 60-year-old workers should stay in their place. That’s what you believe,” he continued.

.@TurnbullMalcolm: This slimy, insinuating and patronising leader of the opposition says once you're 60, you can't do or earn anything more. I've been 60; they've got energy and they're coming for you at the next election.

MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #ParliamentLive pic.twitter.com/wGTAt9YHzd

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 20, 2018

“You don’t believe 60 is the new 40, you believe 60 is frozen in time. It’s very significant. They refer to a 60-year-old, because the insinuation there was, ‘That’s it. You can’t do anything else. You can’t earn anything more’. Well let me tell you, I’ve been 60 and I know. I’m over 60. 60 year olds have got plenty of energy, plenty of ambition and there’s a lot of them and they’re going to come after you at the next election.”

Turnbull’s speech was met with “here heres” from other members of parliament.

Earlier in the day, Labor had launched an attack on Turnbull, insisting the comments he made on Tuesday were out of line. Shorten himself took to social media to explain how he thought Turnbull had “shown his true colours”.

.@TurnbullMalcolm: Aspiration is what drives the Australian economy; the desire of Australians to get ahead; to do more for their families. @AustralianLabor sneers because they are smug in their big taxpayer funded salaries.

MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #ParliamentLive pic.twitter.com/3OcmDk8uOZ

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 20, 2018

“Mr Turnbull showed his true colours yesterday, and it wasn’t pretty,” he said. “He defines success and aspiration by how much money you make. I have different values. I have a different vision for Australia.”

Meanwhile, Labor frontbencher Julie Collins also tweeted that Turnbull should apologise.

"Get a better job". This Prime Minister's message to working and middle class people. Disgraceful. #auspol pic.twitter.com/xMwQbcukvF

— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) June 19, 2018

“The Prime Minister’s comment in question time was elitist and disgraceful – it shows just how out-of-touch and arrogant he is,” she tweeted. “There are more than 360,000 Australians employed in the aged care sector and the Prime Minister’s comment is an insult to every one of these hard workers.

“Labor believes Australia’s aged care workforce is world-class and values the incredible work they do. Workers in aged care don’t need to aspire to get a ‘better job’, they need a Government that treats them with respect.”