Questions on climate action ‘dumb, says Shorten

Bill Shorten labelled questions on the cost of his climate policies “dumb’’ on ABC’s Q&A last night.

Bill Shorten labelled questions on the cost of his climate policies “dumb” last night as he faced off with Melbourne voters on a special edition of the ABC’s Q&A program.

The Opposition Leader made the case for change to an audience at Monash University, but he was repeatedly asked about the costs of his big-spending agenda and his proposed tax changes to negative gearing and franking credits.

And when challenged by host Tony Jones on the costs of his environmental policies, which Labor has not modelled, Mr Shorten ­attacked the question itself.

“That is such a dumb question to say, what does it cost without looking at the cost of inaction,” he said. “You can’t have a debate about climate change without talking about the cost of inaction.”

Mr Shorten has repeatedly raised the cost of inaction of climate change.

How would a Shorten government work to ensure our future is not threatened by the prospect of the world becoming uninhabitable? #QandA pic.twitter.com/7gvdO7sDf8

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) May 6, 2019

His “dumb question” comment was his most forceful ­rejection of attacks on Labor’s policy.

Q&A, held in the Labor-held electorate of Hotham, started with a strong focus on Mr Shorten’s proposed tax changes.

While he denied his policies were an “intergenerat­ional square off”, he did say there was an “international scam” in current tax laws and conceded he wanted to shift the focus to struggling younger voters from more well-off baby boomers.

“In this country, there is a bit of an intergenerational scam in our tax laws,” he said. “We will give you subsidies to own a lot of shares. We will give you subsidies to invest in a lot of properties.

“But what we don’t do is provide enough other support for younger people. So there is reform needed in this country, real change is needed. And there’s a very stark contrast. We’re offering real change. The current government are offering you three more years of the same last six years.”

Young people are worse off than their parents – how can Labor improve the prospects of young people in Australia? #QandA pic.twitter.com/71HeLGkOOl

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) May 6, 2019

Another cloud over Mr Shorten was his personal unpopularity, with his approval ratings diving to negative 18 points in the latest Newspoll. A defiant Labor leader conceded he was not universally popular, but noted he had outlasted two Liberal prime ministers in his six years at the helm of Labor.

Can Bill Shorten explain why he’s been unpopular with the Australian public? #QandA pic.twitter.com/zkJwJCrzRb

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) May 6, 2019

“They said when I was the Opposition Leader against Abbott that he was unbeatable,” he said. “I remember the headlines. Tony Abbott was going to be there for three terms. I outlasted him.

“And Malcolm Turnbull, the Sun King … he’s probably watching this from New York, isn’t he?”