Prime Minister Scott Morrison has suffered his first major campaign gaffe, incorrectly stating the rate of JobSeeker while being quizzed by journalists in Perth.
It had so far been smooth sailing for Mr Morrison who had yet to experience the same slip ups that continue to plague Labor leader Anthony Albanese on the hustings.
But on Monday, Mr Morrison incorrectly said JobSeeker’s were paid $46 a week while answering a question on the cost of living.
The actual figure is $46 per day.
Labor’s Jason Clare was quick off the mark to highlight the error and took to Twitter to call for the Prime Minister to correct the record.
“Today Scott Morrison got the JobSeeker rate wrong. Not by a little – he was out by $276 a week,” he said.
“Will he come out and correct the record?”
It comes as Mr Morrison left the door open to a deal with “teal independents” in the event of a hung parliament.
The Coalition is under pressure in several blue ribbon seats across the country from challengers with links to the Climate 200 movement.
The Prime Minister was asked twice if he would rule out forming an alliance with the so-called climate independents during his Perth press conference.
But he refused to be drawn.
“We intend to win majority government at the election,” Mr Morrison said.
Instead he used the question as an opportunity to renew his attack on the group who he claimed would plunge parliament back into “chaos and uncertainty.”
“You just don't know what you are going to get. You don’t know who they are going to support, and who they are not going to support, you don’t know what the policies are.
“Contracting out your decision to an independent candidate who doesn't know which way they are going to jump, I don’t think that’s a vote for stability and certainty.”
Only a handful of seats are expected to determine the outcome of the federal election.
High-profile challenges in traditionally Liberal seats such as Kooyong, Goldstein and Wentworth, have added to the Coalition’s headache, given they need to hold all 76 seats it currently has.
For the Cxjmtzywoalition and Labor, the magic number is 76. Fall short and the decision of who claims power will be left to the crossbench.
On Monday, the candidate hoping to oust Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed she would not guarantee supply or demand to either major party unless it made major changes to climate policy.
“At this point, neither the major parties has come to the party to the table in the same way that the people of Kooyong want them to,” Monique Ryan told Sky News.
Asked to name a figure, Dr Ryan said if elected she would only do a deal if it include at 60 per cent emissions reduction target – “at a minimum”.
