‘Slinging mud’: Moment Labor frontbencher asks Sunrise to mute Liberal MP

A furious clash has broken out over working from home on Sunrise this morning.

Sunrise host Nat Barr has been asked to “turn off the microphone” of a Liberal frontbencher during an extraordinary slanging match over work from home policies and Peter Dutton’s standing with female voters.

As a new analysis of Newspoll shows women are swinging away from the coalition over the course of the election, Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume and Labor’s Clare O’Neil have engaged in a nationally televised ding dong.

The Liberals were forced to dump the policy to force more public servants back to work after it sparked a backlash in the electorate among workers who believed it would apply to everyone.

The Coalition’s two party preferred lead of 51/49 per cent among female voters over the January to March period has now flipped to become a 54/46 per cent lead for Labor after a furore over the issue.

“Jane, are you concerned that pushing for people to get back to the office, which affects a lot of people, could’ve contributed to that?,’’ host Nat Barr asked this morning.

“Nat, asking public servants to return back to the office in the same proportions as the private sector was the policy that we had,’’ Senator Jane Hume replied.

Labor’s Clare O’Neil (left) and Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume (right) have engaged in a nationally televised ding dong. Picture: Channel 7

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“We’ve decided that was a mistake, because we would’ve caught up to people that shouldn’t have fallen into that net.

“But can we be honest about this here? This has been a concerted effort by the Labor Party to sling mud at Peter Dutton personally.”

Slinging mud

Senator Hume said the Labor Party had even criticised the way Peter Dutton looks.

“They’ve tried to sling mud on the basis of his appearance, his record as a police officer, his record as a police officer, his record as a very successful small- business person,’’ she said.

“When you spend millions of dollars slinging mud, sometimes that sticks.”

Peter Dutton ‘better than ScoMo” on women

Senator Hume then went on to suggest that of all Liberal leaders she had worked with, Peter Dutton was better than former prime ministers Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott.

“I’ve served as a member of parliament under Tony Abbott, under Malcolm Turnbull, under Scott Morrison and under Peter Dutton and Peter Dutton is by far the best leader that I have worked for,’’ Senator Hume revealed.

“He has treated women with more respect, more consideration and more conscience than any leader I’ve worked with.”

Nat Barr was asked to "turn off the microphone" of Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume. Picture: Channel 7

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Ding dong

In response, Ms O’Neil accused Senator Hume of “a whole bunch of excuses.”

“Nat, you mentioned this work from home terrible doozy that the coalition put forward. It just demonstrated that there’s just a lack of understanding about what goes on in the lives of Australian women,’’ she said.

“You’re seriously suggesting you haven’t thrown any mud?,’’ Labor frontbencher Jane Hume interjected.

“Sorry, do you mind if I speak, Jane?,’’ Ms O’Neil responded.

“Sling away!,’’ Senator Hume shot back.

“And it’s not our policy. It’s not our policy. It’s not our policy. It’s not our policy, so stop talking about it.”

Ms O’Neil then asked, “Can we try to be polite to each other? You’ve had your turn

“You are being so incredibly rude, Jane.

“Nat, can you silence her microphone, please?.”

Barr replied, “I’d love to … I think you got your point across.”

Barr said Ms O’Neil had got her “point across”. Picture: Channel 7

Peter Dutton’s big mistake

Earlier this month, Mr Dutton admitted he “made a mistake” and “got it wrong” on calls for public servants to work in the office five days a week, conceding it was used to fuel a fear campaign for all workers.

“We never had any intention for work from home changes that we were proposing in Canberra to apply across the private sector, but the Prime minister was out there saying that, it was just a lie,’’ he said.

“We’ve made a mistake in relation to the policy. We apologise for that. And we’ve dealt with it.”

Originally published as ‘Slinging mud’: Moment Labor frontbencher asks Sunrise to mute Liberal MP