'Disgusting lie', 'dodgy': Parties trade fear campaign slurs

Labor and the Coalition each used press conferences on Tuesday to call out the campaign tactics of the other side.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelled Labor "disgusting" over its charge that the Coalition was looking to move pension payments to cashless debit cards.

"It is an out-and-out disgusting lie," Mr Morrison said, referring to Labor's Jim Chalmers as "Sneaky Jim" for spreading the allegation.

"Good old Sneaky Jim. He's the one who's been telling the lies," Mr Morrison said. "It was Jimmy Chalmers yesterday who was out peddling this lie, seeking to scare pensioners."

Labor has denied it is running a baseless scare campaign by claiming the Coalition has plans to force pensioners onto the cashless welfare card.

Having similarly accused the Coalition of spreading falsehoods about Labor's signature energy plan, Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers were asked on Tuesday why the opposition continued to push the cashless welfare card claims.

Mr Morrison has said it is "simply not true" that the Coalition will move pension payments to cashless cards, despite former social services minister Anne Ruston earlier this term having told 7 News the government was seeking to move payments to a cashless system.

"We're seeking to put all income management on to the universal platform, which is the cashless debit card," Senator Ruston said in February 2020.

Council on the Ageing chief executive Ian Yates said he had received assurances from Senator Ruston that the Coalition was not looking to implement a cashless card system for pensioners.

"It is trying to scare older Australians one way or the other into not voting for the other side, based on things that are not factual," Mr Yates told ACM.

Mr Albanese cited Senator Ruston's comments to support his claims that the option remains on the table, while Dr Chalmers said Labor planned to abolish the cashless debit card entirely if it is elected next month.

"Labor will abolish the cashless debit card. The Liberals and Nationals won't, and they've talked about expanding it and those are facts," he said.

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On Tuesday the opposition also hit back at sledges from the Coalition regarding speculation that Labor's net-zero climate policy would cost consumers more.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers branded Energy Minister Angus Taylor "dodgy" and claimed he was central to fudging numbers released to the media showing consumers would be $560 worse off under Labor's $78 billion energy policy.

"These are dodgy numbers from a dodgy minister in a dodgy government," Dr Chalmers said.

"These numbers have been made up by the minister and put into the papers in an effort to mislead people about the vast opportunities of renewable energy."

In Brisbane, Mr Albanese said Labor's energy and climate plan outlined last year would lower power bills overall, and said a greater reliance on renewables was needed in the energy mix.

"That scare campaign is based upon a view somehow that renewables aren't the cheapest form of new energy," he said.

"And we know that that is why the market is choosing clean energy and renewables for new energy growth."

Labor's climate modelling was conducted by RepuTex following the COP26 Glasgow climate summit last year. It predicted a 43 per cent reduction in net emissions by 2030 under Labor's plan.