Chloe Shorten’s necklace ‘cost just $25 from Lovisa’

Labor says Coalition “tried to get journalists to attack” Chloe Shorten for removing her necklace during budget reply.

Chloe Shorten with, and then later without, her necklace.

The sparkling gold necklace worn by Chloe Shorten during Bill Shorten’s budget reply speech had tongues wagging last night, but the bling cost the Opposition Leader’s wife just $25.

Coalition MPs were sent into a flurry texting journalists when, part-way through Mr Shorten’s 30 minute address, she removed the necklace.

They suggested Mrs Shorten had been asked to take it off it because it sent the wrong message as Mr Shorten declared the government’s federal budget benefited millionaires and multinationals at the expense of ordinary workers.

Happy Birthday darling. Sorry my $20 necklace caused such trouble! #Alexpix pic.twitter.com/TpUyQWl0sh

— chloe shorten (@chloeshorten) May 12, 2017

A Labor source has confirmed the necklace was bought for $25 from Lovisa, which boasts it was created “out of the need for on trend fashion jewellery at ready to wear prices”, at Melbourne’s Highpoint shopping centre.

They say she removed the necklace because the clasp broke and hit out at “pathetic” Liberal MPs for “texting journalists trying to get them to attack Chloe”.

“The fact that the Libs are trying to make this the story shows they know the Budget’s a flop,” the source said.

“It’s grubby and speaks volumes about how the Liberal Party treats women.”

Malcolm Turnbull was asked on Seven’s Sunrise program if he thought Mrs Shorten purposefully took the necklace off, as some of his MPs had claimed.

“I don’t know. To be honest I’ve seen the pictures of Mrs Shorten there, but I was paying attention to the speech,” he said.

Did Chloe Shorten remove her jewellery to match the content of her husband's #BudgetReply speech? #sun7 pic.twitter.com/tUeUGK8vWs

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 11, 2017

Chloe Shorten necklace ‘conspiracy’

Chloe Shorten’s removal of a gold necklace during husband Bill’s budget reply speech last night sparked a flurry of conspiracy ­theories from Coalition MPs.

Had Mrs Shorten been advised that the bling made her look too much like one of the tax-avoiding millionaires the Opposition Leader was attacking?

Before. Picture: Kym Smith

Mrs Shorten wore the necklace with a matching gold blazer, black dress and black heels as she sat on the floor of the parliament watching Mr Shorten give his speech.

Part-way through the 30 minute oration, she removed the necklace, prompting Coalition MPs to send a flurry of texts to journalists, suggesting she had been asked to remove it because it sent the wrong message.

After. Picture: AAP

Mr Shorten’s office ­offered a more mundane explanation: that Mrs Shorten had taken off the necklace because the clasp was broken.

Picture: Kym Smith