THE 2016 campaign now has its own embarrassing “Jaymes Diaz moment” after a Liberal candidate was unable to articulate his party’s Medicare policy while gatecrashing a Labor event at a medical centre.
McEwen Liberal candidate Chris Jermyn turned up at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s media event at a Sunbury clinic where the ongoing Medicare debate was again going to be in the spotlight, with a supporter in tow and armed with a pair of signs.
But in a trainwreck interview with News Corp Australia, Mr Jermyn was unable — over six questions — to state his own party’s position on Mr Shorten’s plan to unfreeze the Medical Benefits Schedule in January 2017 or Labor’s broader medical plan.
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READ NOW“Look, I’m just here to listen to what the Leader of the Opposition has to say today and obviously on the other side of that we might have some more to say ourselves,” he said at one point.
Asked for his personal view on the policy, he again said he just wanted to listen to Mr Shorten. Mr Jermyn later said: “Look, clearly my position is that of the Government.”
When asked what the Government’s position was, he said: “The Government’s position is very clear — nonetheless I think we’ve got the leader arriving now so I’d like to have a listen to what he’s got to say.”
Asked yet again to articulate the Coalition’s stance on the issue, he replied: “Of course I can, anyway I’d like to see what the Leader of the Opposition has to say.”
Labor holds McEwen with a margin of just 0.2 per cent, with little more than 300 votes between the two major parties.
After the interview, Mr Jermyn quickly vanished from the medical centre, leaving a supporter — who had remained to hold up one of Mr Jermyn’s signs during Mr Shorten’s press conference — to face the media.
When the media later approached Mr Jermyn on a nearby street, he picked up his campaign signs and marched them to his car, while refusing to answer any questions.
Mr Jermyn reportedly said, “This is why I hate journalists”, as he tried to evade the media pack.
The gaffe is reminiscent of that of former Greenway Liberal candidate Jaymes Diaz in 2013, when he famously was unable to recall the Coalition’s six-point plan to address the asylum seeker issue.
Asked about Mr Jermyn’s “Jaymes Diaz moment”, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appeared to stumble himself as he tried to brush off the question.
“Thank you for the inquiry but I’m sure that all of our — I know you enjoy taxing our candidates with these questions,” he said.
“Our position on all of these policy issues is very clear and you know, this is where there’s a marked distinction from, you know, there’s a candidate for election to Parliament in Victoria that actually — another candidate that deserves a bit of attention on the question of policy and that of course is Bill Shorten.”
Transcript of News Corp Australia interview with Liberal candidate for McEwen Chris Jermyn:
JERMYN: McEwen is clearly a very marginal seat and we’re obviously out there spreading the message. We’re actually intending on being in Sunbury this morning anyway, so we thought we’d drop down and see what the Leader of the Opposition has to say.
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA: And what do you think of Bill Shorten’s Medicare plan?
JERMYN: Look, I think the people will make that determination. We’re coming out there with some very positive policies and no doubt you’d be aware that there’s a lot of discussion at the moment in relation to Medicare here in Sunbury. There’s a petition coming out there and we’ve been quite open in supporting that.
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA: What’s your view specifically on unfreezing the Medicare Benefits Schedule for January next year, as he’s proposed?
JERMYN: Look, I’m just here to listen to what the Leader of the Opposition has to say today and obviously on the other side of that we might have some more to say ourselves.
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA: But do you have a view on that unfreezing of the Schedule?
JERMYN: Look, as I said we’re here to listen to what the Leader of the Opposition has to say today.
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA: So do you support it or are you against it? Do you have a position?
JERMYN: Look, clearly my position is that of the Government. So we’ve been talking about Medicare here locally in Sunbury. There’s been talk about a Medicare office and I’m concerned about local outcomes, far more so than the national debate.
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA: What’s the Government’s position then on unfreezing the schedule?
JERMYN: The Government’s position is very clear — nonetheless I think we’ve got the leader arriving now so I’d like to have a listen to what he’s got to say.
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA: Can you articulate the Government’s position, though, on that ...
JERMYN: Of course I can, anyway I’d like to see what the Leader of the Opposition has to say.