Peter Dutton’s federal election campaign has started with a bang after his visit to a beer factory was derailed by an angry activist.
The Opposition leader was in high spirits as he poured and then drank a beer at the XXXX beer factory in Brisbane on Saturday.
But Mr Duttons’s first official campaign event quickly escalated into chaos after it was interrupted by a Rising Tide activist in a high-vis vest.
The woman held a blue banner with the slogan ‘No new gas or nuclear’.
‘Why are you lying to the Australian people about the cost of nuclear and gas,’ she yelled at the Opposition leader.
‘It’s going to cook the country, it’s going to cook our country.’
The woman was grabbed by Mr Dutton’s security who quickly bundled her down a staircase and out of the factory as she continued to yell.
At one point, the woman stumbled and had to caught by security before she continued her rant outside the factory.
The Opposition leader was in high spirits as he poured and then drank a beer at the XXXX beer factory in Brisbane on Saturday (pictured)
The Rising Tide protester held a sign that read ‘No new gas or nuclear’ (pictured)
Security wasted no time grabbing the activist and removing her from the beer factory
The woman was bustled down a large staircase by Mr Dutton’s security
‘Industry experts have already agreed your plan’s not going to work. Why are you lying to the Australian people?’ she said.
The outburst is the fifth Rising Tide interruption to political proceedings in two weeks.
In a statement, the group said Natalie Lindner was the activist at the factory.
She was quoted in the statement as saying Mr Dutton’s nuclear scheme ‘will actively worsen the cost of living and climate crisis’.
The Opposition leader was asked if the protests would alter his campaign schedule.
Mr Dutton rejected this, and said nuclear power would make energy cheaper to Aussies battling rising electricity bills and a cost-of-living crisis.
‘Climate is very important to us and we have to meet our Net Zero by 2050 targets, as we’ve committed to,’ he told a Sky News reporter.
‘Our plan is about getting prices down through bringing more gas into the domestic market and that more supply will bring prices down.
‘People who are extremists, who want everything shut down tomorrow, that’s not where the vast majority of Australians are.
‘There will be extremes in all of these debates.’
