Federal election 2019: John Howard accuses ‘sneering’ Bill Shorten after targeting savings

On the hustings with Tony Abbott, John Howard accuses Bill Shorten of targeting ordinary people.

John Howard has accused a “sneering,’’ Bill Shorten of coming after ordinary people with his tax policy, saying the community believes “he’s after your savings.”

The former prime minister joined Tony Abbott today on a campaign trail and took aim at the Opposition Leader’s plans.

“I detect in the community a lot of growing suspicion that Bill Shorten is after your savings,” he told reporters. “Warringah is full of people who have worked hard, accumulated a bit and don't want it taken away by higher taxes from Bill Shorten.

“They’re not the big end of town, that’s an insult. This fellow Shorten is after these people and he sneers at them,” he added.

Mr Abbott said he was delighted to be “getting the old team back together” by campaigning with the Liberal Party elder.

Mr Howard threw his weight behind Mr Abbott’s battle to hold his Sydney seat, which is said to be on a knife-edge against Independent Zali Steggall, warning Warringah voters that backing Mr Abbott was the only way they could guard against a Labor win.

During a campaign walk through the Westfield mall at Brookvale, in the heart of Warringah, Mr Howard greeted shoppers and even bought one woman a coffee when he noticed her cup spill over during a cafe visit.

“Can you get the lady another cappuccino — and I’m paying,” he told the cafe manager at Barista Au Lait.

John Howard: This is going to be a tough election. I am getting more confident as we get closer.

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— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 13, 2019

Dozens of shoppers stopped to chat, with Mr Howard receiving an almost an almost universally positive welcome as he strolled through the mall. He gathered a following trail of locals surprised to see Australia’s second longest serving prime minister as he bolstered Mr Abbott’s campaign in the traditionally safe Liberal seat on Sydney’s northern beaches.

“Tony is a great political realist, he understands he has a fight, but I want to remind anybody in this electorate who might be cranky about this or that, things that the government’s done, or Tony’s done,” Mr Howard said.

“In the end you’ve got to make a choice, and as we saw with people like Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott — even though they represented overwhelmingly non-Labor electorates — they were prepared to support a Labor government in power.

“This election could be very close, and therefore any seats that end up being won by independents, there is no guarantee that they will end up supporting the Liberal Party.

“So if you want lower taxes, if you want to stop Bill Shorten raiding your retirement income and bringing in policies that might reduce the value of your house — there are literally tens of thousands of people in Warringah who fit into that category — the only safe way of ensuring that is to vote for Tony Abbott.”

Ms Steggall, a Sydney barrister and former Olympic skier running with the support of local anti-Abbott groups and GetUp, said during a one-on-one debate with Mr Abbott televised on Sky News last week that she would be more inclined to support a Liberal government majority on votes of confidence and budget supply if the federal election resulted in a hung parliament. Ms Steggall also said that her minimum position for action on climate change was Labor’s policy of a 45 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 — a far higher target than the Coalition’s.

Mr Howard’s comments were a note of caution for voters who might recall how former independent MPs Mr Windsor and Mr Oakeshott, both of whom represented voters in conservative-leaning seats, still threw their support behind the Gillard government after the 2010 to ensure a Labor victory.

Warringah has always been a safe Liberal seat, but several opinion polls have suggested Mr Abbott has a battle on his hands for the first time since he won it at a by-election in 1994.

Mr Howard recalled how Mr Abbott was a tenacious minister in his government with a “mantra” as health minister that the Coalition was “the best friend Medicare ever had” in pushing up bulk billing rates. “He was always trying to get more money for Medicare,” Mr Howard said.

Mr Abbott praised the former prime minister as “the greatest living Liberal and certainly the most successful living Liberal”.

Delivering a message similar to Mr Howard’s own, he said: “In the end the people of Warringah are not just choosing the local member, they are choosing the government.

“What I say to people is that you might be inclined to protest against things that may or may not have happened inside the Liberal Party, but remember, someone is going to be the government on Sunday, and it is much better to have a Liberal government than a Labor government.”

Mr Abbott said climate change policy was important and Coalition’s support for the Paris agreement meant that Australia could meet internationally recognised standards without damage to the economy.

He gave full backing to Scott Morrison as Prime Minister and Liberal leader, committing his support for the full term if the Coalition won.