‘Compare the pair’: Awkward gaffe in major budget speech

An awkward gaffe has threatened to overshadow a major budget speech, with critics quick to pounce on the subtle mistake.

A mid-speech post from Labor’s Jim Chalmers has inadvertently spruiked the Morrison government’s credentials in an awkward blunder by the shadow treasurer.

The post, which went up while Dr Chalmers was delivering an address to the National Press Club, claimed unemployment under Labor was actually higher than under the government.

It was quickly deleted after several Twitter users and government ministers pointed out the error.

Screenshot of Jim Chalmers’ tweet containing the error.

“Thank you for confirming that unemployment is always lower under the Liberals and Nationals,” Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar said.

Employment Minister Stuart Robert also poked fun at the since-deleted tweet.

“What a shame (Jim Chalmers) deleted his tweet … Labor can’t even get their tweets right. How can Australians trust them to do a Budget?”

In an online post published earlier in the day, the unemployment figures were reversed.

The awkward gaffe came as Dr Chalmers was defending himself against criticism he is too inexperienced to handle the government coffers.

“If Josh Frydenberg’s main critique of me is that I haven’t handed down a budget before I’ve handed down a budget, that applies to him, too,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“And by the way, it applies to Peter Costello. It applies to Paul Keating. It applies to a whole heap of others. So, I don’t, frankly, I don’t pay much attention to that.”

The shadow treasurer on Sunday confirmed Labor would drop the last of the party’s unpopular tax policies it took to the last election – a broader tax on family trusts – in a major sign it is sticking to its small target strategy as the federal poll draws closer.

Dr Chalmers ruled out taking new taxes to the election. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

While there was little mention of tax in Dr Chalmers’ address, he later clarified Labor had no plans to increase taxes beyond a crackdown on multinational tax avoidance.

But he did leave the door open to an extension of the fuel excise cut “if there is a compelling reason” to keep it.

“To be upfront with Australians, no matter who wins government in May, it is likely that petrol price relief will end,” Dr Chalmers said.

Asked about the reignited spat between state and territories over the carve up of the GST, Dr Chalmers backed in the government’s deal, suggesting neither party wants to upset Western Australia prior to the election.

“We’ve said to all of the governments that we don’t intend to reopen that deal. That has been a subject of some conjecture,” he said.

“And as always, in these deals, which are done years in advance, but are asked to take into account fluctuations in state economies, there are typically people who are happy for good reason and people who are unhappy for good reason.”

It’s despite a report from the Commonwealth Grants Commission outlining the new deal agreed to by Prime Minister Scott Morrison ahead of the 2019 election would penalise every state but WA when a guarantee no state would be worse off expires in the coming years.

Originally published as ‘Compare the pair’: Awkward gaffe in major budget speech