{"id":699816,"date":"2026-05-28T10:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699816\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T10:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:29:13","slug":"arrogant-prick-comment-opposition-leader-angus-taylor-swore-at-prime-minister-anthony-albanese-in-question-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699816\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrogant prick comment: Opposition Leader Angus Taylor swore at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in question time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PaulSave<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

The adrenaline must not have worn off after Wednesday\u2019s State of Origin classic when MPs rolled into question time.<\/p>\n

After the Coalition got under Anthony Albanese\u2019s skin this month<\/a> when asking about his use of negative gearing, the PM managed to goad the fired-up opposition leader at Thursday\u2019s question time.<\/p>\n

Albanese said that for many MPs it \u201cmight be the last time\u201d they got to vote on an income tax proposal. His suggestion was that many of his opponents would be wiped out by One Nation, or Labor, at the next election.<\/p>\n

\u201cArrogant prick,\u201d Taylor said in an off-mic comment across the desk separating the pair, according to Labor frontbenchers who told this masthead what they heard. Taylor withdrew the comment.<\/p>\n

Speaking later on ABC TV, Albanese said he didn\u2019t want to make a big deal of it. But, he said, \u201cpeople swearing across the chamber isn\u2019t appropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reasonable minds will differ on how offensive was Taylor\u2019s language. In 2010, a Sydney student was cleared of using offensive language toward a police officer after a magistrate ruled the word \u201cprick\u201d was part of everyday speech.<\/p>\n

\"AngusAngus Taylor called the PM an \u201carrogant prick\u201d during question time.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

Either way, language that would have been fine directed at a Maroons player on the big screen on Wednesday night wasn\u2019t fit for the people\u2019s house on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Taylor wisely avoided an altercation at the watch-party at the Eastlake Football Club, a conservative haunt, when Nationals veteran Michael McCormack was harangued by boozy tradies he wanted thrown out of the club.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, he couldn\u2019t help himself.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Treasurer<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt says something about the frustration,\u201d Albanese said of Taylor\u2019s remarks, adding to his jibe about Taylor\u2019s fear of One Nation.<\/p>\n

The Coalition could have seized on Albanese\u2019s comment as proof he had no intention of offering further tax cuts before the next election.<\/p>\n

Two opposition stunts also fell flat on Thursday. Photographers weren\u2019t allowed to capture pieces of A4 paper on Liberal MPs\u2019 desks which spelled out \u201cLABOR LIES\u201d. An attempt by Taylor to suspend standing orders also backfired.<\/p>\n

The ideological tax debate created by Labor\u2019s \u201cintergenerational inequality\u201d budget has reminded Canberra\u2019s blue team of its small-government creed. The budget has injected a sharp edge into the 48th parliament.<\/p>\n

Albanese enjoys boasting about his record election win and speculating about increasing his advantage.<\/p>\n

But he has been reaching for baits and ridicule more frequently as he\u2019s come under more pressure to justify his decision to subject non-housing assets to higher capital gains taxes.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, they included making fun of Nationals MP Darren Chester for being outranked by Senator Matt Canavan, accusing Taylor of moving \u201ceven further right than John Howard\u201d, and joking about Coalition MPs being on track to lose their seats, even though Labor\u2019s primary vote is also struggling in some polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what they\u2019ve been reduced to,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

A weeks-long inquiry into the proposals and continued outcry from business groups will test the unity of Labor\u2019s caucus. Albanese made sure his troops got the message on Thursday, as some of them grumble about his inability to stick to the housing message: \u201cYou know what the people on this side have to say in the Labor caucus? What they say to me is how proud they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Treasurer<\/a><\/p>\n

Question time can often contain no meaningful lessons. But the interjections of MPs can sometimes be revealing. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek at one point called out \u201ctalk to your tax accountant\u201d in response to a question about a detail of Labor\u2019s tax changes.<\/p>\n

The comment displayed what a senior Labor MP explained to this masthead earlier in the week: to win the argument over its tax changes, Labor needs to get its values-based message across to voters. It does not want to debate complex tax principles in treatment of capital income that weren\u2019t ventilated before the budget.<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Sakkal<\/a> is Chief Political Correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and won a Walkley award and the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-699816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}