MEDIA RELEASE: AVERAGE JOE TRIPS OVER HIS OWN WORDS

Labor today highlighted the utter incompetence of Joe Hockey and his complete lack of understanding of his own Budget.

Labor asked Mr Hockey eight questions during Question Time, asking the Treasurer whether he agreed with his previous statements on his unfair Budget.

Not only is he unable to defend his own Budget, he can’t even back up his own words.  

If he isn’t confusing Australians, he is insulting them. Today was more proof he isn’t up to job.  

Tony Abbott should drop this bad Budget, or drop the Treasurer.

HIS OWN WORDS:

Q. 1

“You wouldn’t be hit by the so-called Medicare co-payment. You wouldn’t be affected.” – said to a man with eight chronic illnesses, who will have to pay the co-payment for most GP services.

(HOCKEY – ABC Q&A – 19 MAY 2014)

Q. 2

“My electorate of North Sydney has one of the highest bulk-billing rates in Australia”.

(HOCKEY – ABC RADIO – 24 APRIL 2014)

*In fact, with a bulk-billing rate of around 70 per cent, North Sydney has the sixth lowest bulk-billing rate in Sydney and is below the national average.

Q. 3

HOST: But there are people out there, people who work and raise families and their budgets are so tight that they can count in cents the amount of money they have at the end of the week.

HOCKEY: …are people in a position now where they're not prepared to give up a couple of cups of coffee or something else in their lives in order to take a sick child to the doctor.

(HOCKEY – ABC CAPITAL HILL – 15 MAY 2014)

Q. 4

HOST: They're still taxes. I don't need to teach you, Treasurer, what a tax is. You know that a co-payment, a levy and a tax are all taxes by any other name. Am I correct?

HOCKEY: Of course they are. Yes.

(HOCKEY – 7.30 – 13 MAY 2014)

Q. 5

“One of the things that quite astounds me is some people are screaming about $7 co-payment… You can spend just over $3 on a middy of beer, so that’s two middies of beer to go into the doctor.”

(HOCKEY – ABC AM - 15 MAY 2014)

Q. 6

HOCKEY: We are taking it to another election, so our commitments on pensions...

HOST: You're trying to legislate it before that...

HOCKEY: No, no, we haven't said that yet.  So you shouldn't assume that.

(HOCKEY - PVO NEWS HOUR – 20 AUGUST 2014)

Q. 7

“The poorest people either don't have cars or actually don't drive very far in many cases.”

(HOCKEY – ABC RADIO BRISBANE – 13 AUGUST 2014)

Q. 8

“The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases. But, they are opposing what is meant to be, according to the Treasury, a progressive tax.”

(HOCKEY – ABC RADIO BRISBANE – 13 AUGUST 2014)