Peter Dutton addresses Qld Health Minister’s stray text saga
Peter Dutton has addressed the errant text messages that yesterday became the centre of a federal and state government stoush.
The Courier Mail reported Queensland Health had left ADF personnel who participated in the Afghanistan rescue mission stranded in Dubai after denying a quarantine exemption.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath corrected the record, insisting the state government worked very closely with the ADF on a timeline they provided to establish quarantine measures for the soldiers.
She suggested the Commonwealth government was behind the “factually incorrect” reporting and claimed she was unable to get in contact with Defence Minister Peter Dutton over the issue.
Mr Dutton denied the claims, saying he had not heard from the Health Minister, which prompted her to show journalists her call and message history.
But, as Nine News reporter Tim Arvier pointed out, she had the wrong number.
This is @YvetteDAth’s phone which shows her texts to @PeterDutton_MP
The actual number she had though had a wrong digit in it and was not his number#qldpol #auspol https://t.co/hej5lPm4My pic.twitter.com/liYiq2jKR7
— Tim Arvier (@TimArvier9) September 8, 2021
Ray Hadley: “Did you get my texts? I got your number off Yvette D’Ath.”
Peter Dutton: “No, but some poor, random bloke got it.
“He’s obviously been bombarded with texts from someone he doesn’t know.”
Press PLAY below to hear the Defence Minister discuss the saga
Image: Tim Arvier / Twitter