Election 2016: Gang members join CFMEU heavies to persuade voters to put Coaliton last

The Daily Telegraph can reveal members of the Rebels bikie gang and militant construction union the CFMEU have been campaigning for Labor and persuading voters to put the Coalition last.

Labor supporters, including one wearing the colours of the Rebels bikie gang (right), outside the office of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

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OUTLAW bikie gangs have been recruited into the Labor scare campaign on Medicare.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal members of the Rebels bikie gang and militant construction union the CFMEU have been campaigning for Labor and persuading voters to put the Coalition last.

Over the past week a group of bikies and unionists have taken the “Medi-scare” campaign to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s office.

A spokesman for the Immigration Minister said the bikie connection would be a ‘test for Bill Shorten’s leadership’ to see if he would condemn the group.

A spokesman for Mr Dutton said yesterday: “This is a test of Bill Shorten’s leadership. Will he condemn the outlaw bikies working with the CFMEU for their thuggish behaviour? If not people, know this man is not fit to run our country.

“I’ve cancelled the visas of more than 90 foreigners who are members of OMCG around Australia and who are involved in criminal activity. In so doing we are making our communities a safer place.”

Yesterday, Mr Shorten failed to name one medical expert who backs his Medicare scare campaign, which even the Greens have called out as a lie.

Dutton’s office has labelled the behaviour of the CFMEU as ‘thuggish’.

Mr Shorten waved his Medicare card around and was unable to properly respond to questions on his privatisation scare campaign, after the head of the Australian Medical Association said there was no evidence to back up what the Opposition Leader was saying.

Instead of responding to AMA president Dr Michael Gannon saying the outdated Medicare IT system desperately needs an upgrade and outsourcing is not privatisation, Mr Shorten tried to switch the conversation to a Labor promise to unfreeze the Medicare rebate.

But he glossed over the fact that freezing the rebate was introduced under Labor.

“People are entitled to their opinion about the importance of keeping the payments system in government hands,” Mr Shorten said. “Labor is committed to keeping the payments system in government hands.

“If the Liberals get elected, they will take it as a green light to dismantle key parts of the system and go ahead with their cuts. The freezes to the GP rebate. No lesser body than the Royal Australian College of GPs has said 14.5 million patients will pay more to go and see the doctor if the Liberal Party is re-elected with their policy of freezes.”

After his press conference, deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek also backtracked from the Medi-scare campaign, and accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of not denying “he wants a user-pays system for Medicare”.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale called out Labor on the lies in their Medicare campaign and said the reason Mr Shorten was not solely focusing on the Medicare rebate freeze was because Labor introduced it.

The protesters targeted Dutton’s office. Photo: Claudia Baxter

Dr Gannon said the AMA welcomed Labor’s promise to unfreeze the rebate, but said privatising the payment system would not affect patients.

“It’s nothing to do with public hospital funding so I’m not sure that argument could be supported,” he said.

“The evidence just doesn’t back it up. The (payment) system doesn’t work. The proposal was to get the Productivity Commission to look at fixing it.”

Mr Turnbull said Labor was “engaged in a desperate lie” and Medicare would “never ever be privatised.”