As Mr Turnbull arrived to the CEDA luncheon where he planned to outline his government’s economic plan, he approached a homeless man sitting on the street, bent down and put some change in his cup before shaking the man’s hand and continuing on his way.
Mr Turnbull would go on to use his first major economic address since the 2016 election to put pressure on the opposition to support $6 billion in government savings it had committed to during the election.
He had also painted a bleak picture of the global economy, declaring it more fragile now than at any other time since the 2007 global financial crisis.
His speech was marked by a disruption from refugee advocates after one protester took to the stage and called for the government to cease its offshore processing policy.
The protester turned to face the audience and held up a sign reading: “FFS. Close the bloody refugee camps”.
Australia is currently running asylum seeker detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru; a policy that has come under fire from human rights groups that say they are in breach of Australia’s international human rights obligations.
With AAP
