Rita Panahi: Labor reboots its class warfare and mediscare

Labor’s shenanigans in trying to scare the electorate over Medicare and paint the opposition as rich and out of touch may ultimately be effective but it’s shamefully dishonest. Now, Peter Dutton needs to get on the front foot.

Anthony Albanese and his ministers love lecturing Australians about the dangers of disinformation but the ALP is not above indulging in dangerous, deliberate fake news to scare voters in the lead-up to the federal election.

And, despite Labor, Greens and Teal electorates being on average more affluent than Coalition ones, the Left is determined to pursue the politics of class warfare by appealing to voters’ worst instincts.

The Australian Left is happy to trample on the free speech of Australians under the guise of battling disinfo and misinfo, but they are often the biggest spreaders of both.

Labor has already launched another deeply dishonest “mediscare”-style campaign by heavily editing Peter Dutton’s comments in order to mislead Australians into believing he wants to axe Medicare. The ad, authorised by Labor headquarters and posted on various social media platforms including in paid ads, features a video of the opposition leader saying “Medicare is dead”.

No doubt it’s reached a significant number of people who may now believe that instead of pledging $9bn for Medicare, that Dutton wants to axe universal healthcare.

Labor has already launched another deeply dishonest ‘mediscare’-style campaign by heavily editing Peter Dutton’s comments in order to mislead Australians into believing he wants to axe Medicare.

The caption in the ad reads “The guy who wants to be Prime Minister said ‘Medicare is dead’” and features a fresh-faced Dutton saying back in 2014: “We’re very clear about this: Medicare is dead. They can’t be for free. We have to pay for a world-class medical system.”

Only problem is that he wasn’t saying Medicare is dead. He was indeed explaining why more needed to be done to save Medicare and ensure it remains viable.

The full quote, before Labor’s bastardisation, paints a very different picture. Dutton, who was health minister at the time, said: “We’re very clear about this. Medicare is dead if we can’t make it sustainable.” He also said more than once in the same interview that “the government is determined to make sure that Medicare is sustainable.”

One can only hope that those who have seen Labor’s deliberately deceptive video on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, and other sites where the clip has been re-shared, will do a little more research.

Labor and its media mates are also indulging in a little class warfare by trying to paint Dutton as some out-of-touch property mogul despite the inconvenient fact that the prime minister’s real estate portfolio is considerably larger.

Dutton has a farm in Queensland, which he bought for less than half of what Albanese paid for a beach house on NSW’s Central Coast last year. Picture: Realestate.com.au

A recent headline in the Sydney Morning Herald screamed “26 properties in 35 years: Peter Dutton’s extensive property portfolio revealed”. The opening line made the outrageous claim that Dutton is “one of the country’s wealthiest-ever contenders for prime minister”.

Clearly the Nine papers suffer from selective memory loss and have forgotten about Mr Harbourside Mansion Malcolm Turnbull and Mr Noosa Beachfront Estate Kevin Rudd.

Only if you bother to read the piece in full you’ll learn that far from being a property mogul with dozens of properties, Dutton has just one, a farm in Queensland, which he bought for $2.1m in 2020. That’s less than half of what Albanese paid for a beach house on NSW’s Central Coast last year. The Prime Minister’s $4.3m clifftop mansion in Copacabana is not his only property, not bad from a man who portrays himself as a battler who grew up a housing commission home.

Labor’s “politics of envy” strategy is a curious one given that households in Coalition seats on average earn $8500 less per annum than Labor seats. The gap is even greater for seats that are held by the Teals and Greens.

Peter Dutton needs to rediscover his referendum mojo and get on the front foot; abandon reckless net zero policies and lean into the so-called culture wars. Picture: John Gass

The political realignment sees affluent voters increasingly lean Left while working class and aspirational voters are leaning Right. It’s a trend that is bigger than Australia and evident from the US to the UK.

Labor’s shenanigans in trying to scare the electorate over Medicare and paint the opposition as rich and out-of-touch may ultimately be effective but it’s shamefully dishonest.

In politics, attack is the best form of defence. Dutton needs to rediscover his referendum mojo and get on the front foot; abandon reckless net zero policies and lean into the so-called culture wars.

In short

Donald Trump’s astonishing congressional address was two hours of America First shock and awe. It was bold, clear-eyed, and deeply emotional in parts. It was a celebration of what makes America great together with a recognition of the job ahead, and it resonated deeply with American voters despite the relentless anti-Trump coverage from the bulk of the mainstream media. The CBS New/ YouGov poll showed that 76 per cent approved of what they heard.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist

Originally published as Rita Panahi: Labor reboots its class warfare and mediscare