‘Australia has an ill-fitting Treasurer’: Bill Shorten zings Scott Morrison during interview

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten has zinged Treasurer Scott Morrison during an interview on The Project.

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten has zinged Treasurer Scott Morrison while being interviewed on The Project about his backflip on a royal commission to the banks.

The interview began as expected, with host Waleed Aly pointing out that Mr Shorten voted no to a royal commission a year ago and questioned whether his change of tune is just a “vote grabber”.

“No, I think in the last year we have waited to see banking clean up its own act but there are too many scandals,” Mr Shorten said. “Malcolm Turnbull said last Wednesday that you can’t just keep sweeping these problems under the carpet. So that’s why Labor has put a stake in the ground and we’ve said there should be an inquiry into seeing how widespread the problems are in banking.”

Aly pressed further, saying the move has the “whiff of politics”.

“I know how incensed everyone in Labor was about the union royal commission, really angry,” the host said. “It feels like you’re having a whack at the Coalition and its support base.”

“Since 2009, banks around the world have had to pay $200 billion in penalties for their conduct,” Mr Shorten replied. “You know, I’m surprised that the government says ‘nothing to see here’. They’ve cut the funding of the regulator by $120 million. A royal commission is different to the current cop on the beat.

“It can join the dots. It has the broadest powers of any government inquiry. Australians — banking is so fundamental to everyone, from our mortgages to our credit cards.”

The panel compared his point to one Treasurer Scott Morrison made, that it is fundamental to the stability of the economy.

“If you follow Mr Morrison’s logic to its conclusion, what he’s saying is, we’re willing to tolerate bad ethics, bad culture and the rorts because any proposal to make the bank sector healthier, something which gives us more confidence, is bad for business,” Mr Shorten replied.

And then things got personal.

Panellist Peter Helliar brought the opposition leader’s attention to a clip of Mr Morrison making a comment that hit below the belt.

“Bill Shorten is up there in his ill-fitting suit, puffing up his chest and saying we need to thump the table,” Mr Morrison said in the clip.

Mr Shorten was asked if the treasurer’s comments hit him where it hurt.

“I think the problem is that Australia has an ill-fitting Treasurer,” he hit back, to the delight of the panel and viewers alike.

Hosts Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore are caught off guard by the zing.

BILL SHORTEN LIVE #ZINGER ALERT!!! #TheProjectTV #AusPol pic.twitter.com/Dv5sLM3VK9

— Kiera (@KieraGorden) April 11, 2016

#TheProjectTV #Bill Shorten calls #Morrison out as an ill fitting treasurer.Boom. Bill has finally found his mojo

— gai kunstelj (@GKunstelj) April 11, 2016