Jeremy Neal deleted social media posts attacked by minister claiming risks in natural disasters
The federal emergency management minister is claiming thousands of people would be at risk in natural disasters, in response to deleted social media posts by the LNP’s Leichhardt candidate.
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The federal emergency management minister is claiming thousands of people would be at risk in response to a deleted social media post by the LNP’s Leichhardt candidate who once called for the ABC to be defunded.
The series of posts made by Jeremy Neal included him labelling China as a “grub” of a country, pro Donald Trump posts and calls to cut the ABC.
Mr Neal earlier this week “unreservedly” apologised and said the opinions he had posted between 2020 and 2022 were “now not reflective of me at all”.
“Your opinions change as politics move,” Mr Neal said on Wednesday.
But federal emergency management minister Jenny McAllister, who is visiting Cairns on Friday, said Mr Neal’s “desire to defund the ABC mirrors the savage cuts to the public service proposed by Peter Dutton”.
Mr Neal responded arguing Labor was “trawling through the gutter on the eve of an election because for too long they’ve neglected Far North Queensland”.
“Quite frankly I’m not going to be lectured by Labor, from the comfort of their offices in Canberra, on emergency management while our community faces real emergencies, like Labor’s cost-of-living crisis and Labor’s youth crime crisis,” he said.
“I’ve served in several local disaster management groups, as our region has stared down natural disasters. Anthony Albanese on the other hand ditched Far North Queensland during the floods to attend a fundraiser down south.”
Ms McAllister claimed the 41,000 public servant cuts proposed by the Coalition would severely impact disaster-prone regions such as the Far North, claiming it could include staff cuts within the National Emergency Management Agency likely.
Mr Dutton has reneged on his initial plan to immediately cull 41,000 public servants, instead opting to wind back departments over five years.
“At the time when we know we can expect more frequent and extreme weather events, Peter Dutton wants to cut the Commonwealth agency dedicated to keeping Queenslanders safe,” Ms McAllister said.
“I call on Peter Dutton to rule out any cuts to emergency management today.”
Mr Neal responded stating: “We have been very clear that there will be no impact to frontline workers. This is just another scare campaign from Labor.”
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Originally published as Jeremy Neal deleted social media posts attacked by minister claiming risks in natural disasters
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