'This is a Trump tactic': ABC journalist is roasted for reading out a text from Barnaby Joyce 'as fact' during a discussion about an $80MILLION water management scandal ABC journalist Patricia Karvelas was slammed for reading out a text on air She was discussing water buybacks on Insiders when Barnaby Joyce texted her Ms Karvelas read out the message verbatim on air and was attacked online People said move was 'Trumpian' on Joyce's part and she shouldn't have read it Ms Karvelas said she was just reporting the news, which is her job By Hannah Moore For Daily Mail Australia Published: 06:42 BST, 22 April 2019 | Updated: 06:42 BST, 22 April 2019 Viewcomments Political journalist Patricia Karvelas has been slammed for reading out a text from Barnaby Joyce live on air. Ms Karvelas was discussing water buybacks during Insiders on Sunday - an initiative that saw the government pay $80 million to a company called Eastern Australia Agriculture - which has ties to Energy Minister Angus Taylor - in 2017. The revelation of Mr Taylor's connection to the company has led to hard questions for the government, and Labor has capitalised on the scandal, with Bill Shorten promising a royal commission into the Murray-Darling basin plan if he becomes Prime Minister in next month's Federal Election. As Ms Karvelas discussed the issue on an insiders panel on Monday morning, she received a text from former deputy PM and then- Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce, which he asked her to read out on air. 'I've just received a text message that he would like read out from Barnaby Joyce saying: 'You have to go to the market and purchase what people are willing to sell. It wasn't compulsory buybacks. It was voluntary buybacks. I insist that I was not involved in the negotiations',' she said. Ms Karvelas was immediately slammed online, with Twitter users questioning why she had Joyce's direct phone number and one woman calling her behaviour a 'Trump/ Fox tactic'. 'I'm sorry but since when can politicians tweet an answer to a journalist and have it read verbatim,' she asked. 'This is a Trump/Fox tactic NOT OUR ABC.' One man asked if Ms Karvelas 'would have read out a message from any Labor politicians like she did [Joyce's]', while someone else suggested the text was staged. The journalist and radio host received a load of support from other journalists, however, and more sympathetic viewers. Many noted she would have Joyce's private number as part of her work as a political journalist, while others said the comment was news and she was right to share it. Ms Karvelas also pointed out she had called for a royal commission into the plan and questioned whether the payment, which is said to have netted Eastern Australia Agriculture a cool $50million in profit, was good value. Twitter users were furious after Barnaby Joyce texted ABC journalist Patricia Karvelas on Sunday to tell her he was not involved in the water buyback scheme, and Ms Karvelas read out the message on air Joyce 'insisted' he was not involved in negotiations, and said the buybacks were voluntary The buyback scandal isn't only facing criticism from Labor. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told Sky News on Sunday the revelation was: 'just the latest in a long line of scandals and shonkiness in relation to the way the Murray-Darling Basin has been managed'. Ms Karvelas was slammed online, but others supported her for breaking the news and not keeping Joyce's message a secret Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick said he also supports a royal commission, especially as the company involved in the $80 million purchase, Eastern Australia Agriculture, domiciles in the Cayman Islands. 'I am absolutely disturbed that the Australian government has been dealing with a company that is domiciled in a tax haven,' Senator Patrick told ABC news. He said the company made a $52 million profit in the transaction, money that went to the Cayman Islands. 'I actually think that the only way to get to the bottom of this is to have a federal royal commission,' the senator said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison had dismissed the need for further investigations into the water purchase on Saturday, saying there had already been a Senate inquiry into the matter where documents were produced. But Senator Hanson-Young was unimpressed, saying those documents were heavily redacted. 'It's a bit cute to say the information has been given to the Senate when large parts of it have been kept secret, hidden from the public, from the taxpayer,' she said. 'This is just more and more weight to the need for a royal commission.' Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility