Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday slammed the Labor Party's treatment of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's controversial comments about 'illiterate' refugees.
Mr Turnbull said the minister was being 'demonised' in order to distract attention away from the opposition's own MP controversies.
“Bill Shorten is only interested in the politics of this issue,” Mr Turnbull said in south-west Sydney.
“You can see the way he leapt on it yesterday to demonise Peter Dutton as a means of distracting attention from Mr Feeney’s rather careless accounting for his real estate interests. That was all politics yesterday.”
The PM was referring to Batman MP David Feeney failing to declare his $2.3 million investment property, which he negatively gears.
“Barely a day goes past when I don’t celebrate that we are the most successful multicultural nation in the world and we are built on immigration," Malcolm Turnbull added.
"We glory in it."
It was a significant day for the opposition, with Bill Shorten unveiling a $12 billion plan to unwind the Medicare rebate freeze.
The plan, which will be funded over 10 years, is a reversal of Labor's 2013 decision and the party's first big-ticket promise during this federal election campaign. The rebate freeze was in the recent budget extended by the Coalition until 2019-2020.
"We will defend an Australia where it is your healthcare card not your credit card that determines the quality of healthcare you get in this country," Bill Shorten began with during his press conference in the marginal seat of Dobell.
"By reversing Malcolm Turnbull's GP tax and, as such, this is not just a matter of money and the Budget. This is a battle to defend bulk billing. As such, it is a battle to defend Medicare."
But Mr Shorten, who was joined by shadow health minister Catherine King, sidestepped questions over whether Labor would restore funding to successful Indigenous health programs.
"We are very committed to closing the gap and Indigenous health," Mr Shorten said.
"Indigenous health hasn't had enough coverage in this election and we have had Pat Dodson out there providing further policies to me with my shadow spokespeople."
Bill Shorten cancelled his afternoon events in Maitland after a car crashed while trying to overtake his campaign convoy.
SBS reporter Omar Dabbagh is on the campaign trail with the Opposition Leader.
