07:47

Finance minister Mathias Cormann and Kimberley Kitching have been locked in a stoush about the incident at the Carindale Hotel in which a man allegedly abused the prime minister when he got served first.



The man, known as Bluey, appeared on the Kyle and Jackie-o show. Kitching reads out a transcript from the show, where Bluey said he was in line for about five minutes at his local and “finally got to be served and the PM just pushed in”. Bluey made the point everyone is equal in the pub, doesn’t matter who you are.



Cormann first questioned Bluey’s account (“he would say that”) and said he does not accept the assertion that was made about the prime minister’s conduct because he was not in the pub. Malcolm Turnbull conducts himself with respect for others and if it did happen it “would have been a misunderstanding, no harm intended”.



Cormann gave further comment that there “there would’ve been a lot of people in the pub in that context to hear from the PM”, which sets Kitching off:

“So it is OK because he is more important, he pushed in because people were waiting to hear from him?”



Cormann again rejects the premise that Bluey’s version is necessarily correct and calls Kitching “Inspector Clueso”. He takes on notice a question about whether Turnbull apologised, and we move on.