‘s federal election campaign has kicked off with a bang after Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese were both heckled by angry protesters on the first day.
The Opposition leader was in high spirits as he poured and then drank a beer at the XXXX beer factory in Brisbane on Saturday.
But Mr Duttons’s first official campaign event quickly escalated into chaos when it was interrupted by a Rising Tide activist in a high-vis vest.
The woman held a blue banner with the slogan ‘No new gas or nuclear’.
‘Why are you lying to the n people about the cost of nuclear and gas,’ she yelled at the Opposition leader.
‘It’s going to cook the country, it’s going to cook our country.’
The woman was grabbed by Mr Dutton’s security who quickly bundled her down a staircase and out of the factory where she continued her rant.
‘Industry experts have already agreed your plan’s not going to work. Why are you lying to the n people?’ she said.
Mr Albanese was interrupted by right-wing social media commentator Laurence McIntyre as he spoke from an urgent care clinic at Murrumba Downs in Mr Dutton’s electorate of Dickson in Brisbane on Saturday.
Mr McIntyre, who regularly shares videos criticising ‘s migration policies, yelled from the back of the room before he was quickly asked to leave by security.
‘Mr Albanese don’t you think 1.8 million immigrants in five years is going to increase demand on the medical system?’ he said.
‘What about the fact that people my age can’t get any housing, we can’t get rentals anymore. We have no future in this country, don’t you think that’s kind of ridiculous?’
The interruption to Mr Dutton’s campaigning marks the fifth Rising Tide interruption to political proceedings in two weeks.
In a statement, the group said Natalie Lindner was the activist at the factory.
She was quoted in the statement as saying Mr Dutton’s nuclear scheme ‘will actively worsen the cost of living and climate crisis’.
The Opposition leader was asked if the protests would alter his campaign schedule.
Mr Dutton rejected this, and said nuclear power would make energy cheaper to Aussies battling rising electricity bills and a cost-of-living crisis.
‘Climate is very important to us and we have to meet our Net Zero by 2050 targets, as we’ve committed to,’ he told a Sky News reporter.
‘Our plan is about getting prices down through bringing more gas into the domestic market and that more supply will bring prices down.
‘People who are extremists, who want everything shut down tomorrow, that’s not where the vast majority of ns are.
‘There will be extremes in all of these debates.’
The federal election has been called for May 3, giving Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton just five weeks to woo voters before they head to the polls.