MICHELLE ROWLAND MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS
MEMBER FOR GREENWAY
 
CATHERINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
MEMBER FOR BALLARAT
 
 
PAUL FLETCHER “DON’T ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT”

 
If you needed any further evidence of the Morrison Government’s incompetence, look no further than Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts. 
 
This week alone:
 
Minister Fletcher was unable to answer basic questions about the failing Urban Congestion Fund, showing once again that the Morrison Government is heavy on announcements but light on delivery.

At Senate Estimates it was confirmed that Minister Fletcher understated the cost of his copper NBN backflip by $300 million.
 
He introduced a broadcasting deregulation bill into Parliament with an incorrect second reading speech, indicating he doesn’t even know what his own bill does, which necessitated a correction in the Chamber two hours later.

At Senate Estimates it was revealed that the offices of the Prime Minister, Minister Tudge and the Attorney-General were consulted in the preparation of Minister Fletcher’s threatening letter to ABC Chair Ita Buttrose about the Four Corners program “Inside the Canberra Bubble” and that the confidential response from the ABC Chair to Minister Fletcher was supplied to the office of the Attorney-General. 
 
Then, in an interview on ABC radio, Paul Fletcher maintained the Government shouldn’t be “distracted” by the appalling conduct of male Coalition staff at Parliament House.
 
The current Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, might say “blokes don’t always get it right”. 
 
Well, Paul Fletcher gets it wrong a lot of the time.
 
As the Minister responsible for the independent ABC, Paul Fletcher elected to attack rather than defend the national broadcaster for public interest reporting into the culture of Parliament House. When faced with concerning allegations of abuse of power by Government Ministers, Paul Fletcher responded with a further abuse of power “smacking of political interference”. 
 
Fletcher blames his Department for his decision to approve the $30m purchase of land worth only $3m, despite annotating the brief with “seems pretty sensible to me”.
 
But he can’t hide his obvious and tone-deaf incompetence or his growing list of stuff ups across multiple Portfolios.  
 
FRIDAY, 26 MARCH 2021