Radio host's blistering attack on Linda Burney's Voice claim: 'disgraceful, an ... trends now
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney has been called out for her 'outright lie' after making the extraordinary claim on the ABC that the Voice to Parliament would have prevented Alice Springs' crime wave.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to fly to the troubled Outback town and introduce an alcohol sales ban after heavy criticism from the Opposition and locals about a a 300 per cent surge in crime since Labor dropped alcohol sales bans in remote communities
Ms Burney told ABC Radio National's Patricia Karvelas that if a Voice to Parliament had been established earlier 'the situation in Alice Springs wouldn't be what it is'.
When Karvelas then pressed Ms Burney on whether she or the PM had been tough enough on alcohol bans in the Northern Territory, the minister said of their flying visit: 'The most important thing is we made enormous gains yesterday.
'I've been thinking about this very deeply and it was expressed yesterday, that if the Voice to Parliament had been established previously, I don't think we would be where we are in terms of where Alice Springs is at the moment,' she said.
However, 2GB host Ben Fordham slammed Ms Burney comments as not only 'disgraceful' but an 'outright lie'.
Ms Burney claimed on ABC radio a day after her flying visit to Alice Springs taht had the Voice to Parliament been in operation 'I don't think we would be where we are in terms of where Alice Springs is at the moment'
Linda Burney (above in Alice Springs with PM Anthony Albanese on their brief fly-in visit on Tuesday) has been slammed by Fordham who accused her of using Alice Springs' lawless violence to sell the yes vote for the Voice
'Linda Burney has had a shocker. She is living in fantasy land,' Fordham said, 'I hope you’re not using using what's happening in Alice Springs to build a case for the Voice, because it sure sounds like it.
'Really I mean Linda, you don't believe that. You're either telling fibs or living in cuckoo land.'
He also gave Ms Burney a massive spray for her reasoning why this would be so when she said, 'because we would have been getting practical advice from people who are representative of the community in relation to these social issues'
Fordham: 'Minister you've already had that. The people of Alice Springs have been banging down the door pleading for your help'.
Ms Burney said the PM's visit to Alice Springs (pictured, above, a local youth trying to break in to the town's Todd Tavern liquor barn) had been a success
The minister said of Alice Springs that it was 'wrong to think the issue out here is just alcohol' and bans on Mondays and Tuesdays were 'enormous gains'
National Party Senator Matt Canavan also weighed in on Ms Burney's comments and said she should quit her job.
'It shows how out of touch these people are. We have a whole department here
