Extraordinary moment Labor minister asks for political rival’s microphone to be cut off during heated exchange

The political temperature is scorching as Australians prepare to go to the polls next month.

And tensions spilled over on Sunrise on Wednesday as Labor Housing Minister Clare O’Neil and Liberal Senator Jane Hume argued about new polls showing Opposition leader Peter Dutton is struggling with women voters.

A Newspoll published by The Australian showed Labor is now at 35 per cent of the female primary vote compared with the Coalition’s 33 per cent. The Coalition had previously been leading Labor 38 per cent to 29 per cent last month.

Earlier this month, Dutton backflipped on his decision to end work from home for the public service — which many people had said would impact the work-life balance of Australian women.

On Wednesday, Hume and O’Neil clashed over the policy and the Coalition’s attitude towards women, with O’Neil even asking for her rival’s microphone to be cut following several interruptions.

Barr initially asked: “Jane, are you concerned that pushing for people to get back to the office, which affects a lot of people, could have contributed to the (loss of support among female voters)?”

Hume defended the policy change.

“Asking public servants to return back to the office in the same proportions as the private sector was the policy that we had. We’ve decided that was a mistake,” Hume said, before going on the attack.

“But can we be honest about this here? This has been a concerted effort by the Labor Party to sling mud at Peter Dutton personally. They’ve done it on every level,” she said.

“They’ve tried to sling mud on the basis of his appearance, his record as a police officer, his record as a very successful small businessperson. When you spend millions of dollars slinging mud, sometimes that sticks.”

Hume, who served under former Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison, said Dutton is the best leader she has worked with — saying the majority of his leadership team are female and he wants women to focus on “empowerment, rather than dependency”.

“I don’t think that Clare can possibly defend it,” Hume said.

“In fact, I have heard Peter Dutton, when Clare was really under pressure ... after releasing all those criminals, Peter Dutton went out and defended her. I will be interested to see whether she can return the compliment.”

Barr then turned her attention to O’Neil, asking: “Clare, Jane is basically saying the Labor Party has spent a lot of money to be mean to Peter Dutton and it is working. What do you say?”

O’Neil: “Well, I think that’s just a whole bunch of excuses that we’ve heard there from Jane.

“Nat, you mentioned this work from home terrible doozy that the Coalition put forward.

“It just demonstrated that there’s just a lack of understanding about what goes on in the lives of Australian women. Working from home has become integral to many families in my community.”

Hume interjected: “You’re seriously suggesting you haven’t thrown any mud?”

O’Neil: “Sorry, do you mind if I speak, Jane?”

Hume: “Sling away!”

O’Neil: “This work from home issue, it was a terrible thing to do.”

Hume: “And it’s not our policy. It’s not our policy.”

O’Neil: “Can we try to be polite to each other? You’ve had your turn, I’ve been polite ... (Dutton’s WFH decision) reflects a broader issue for the coalition.”

Hume continued interrupting O’Neil.

O’Neil: “You are being so incredibly rude, Jane.”

Hume: “You’re talking about something that is irrelevant.”

O’Neil: “This is a democracy and I’m a politician trying to have my say. I listened to you politely.”

Hume: “You’re slinging mud and continuing to do so.”

O’Neil: “Nat, can you silence her microphone, please?”

Barr: “I think you got your point across.”

O’Neil: “I don’t really feel that I did ... this is a really big issue for the coalition. We are Australia’s first majority government and protecting and defending women is at the heart of everything we do.

“You’ve seen us lower the gender pay gap, put protections in place against domestic violence, protect working from home, lower childcare fees, better wages for aged-care workers.”