Health Minister Greg Hunt has angrily bristled at questions about putting partisan symbols on public health messages, accusing the reporter of political bias.
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Mr Hunt was on Wednesday asked why he attached a Liberal Party logo to an Australian government announcement about securing extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The vaccines were not paid for by the Liberals, but through taxpayer dollars and government debt.
The minister initially suggested the party logo was justified because he was elected under that banner.
But when the questions continued, he quickly launched into personal attacks against the ABC anchor Michael Rowland.
Mr Hunt accused the career journalist of being left-wing and claimed to have made a bet with his staff about the questions he would raise.
Rowland took offence at the comment but pressed on regardless, drawing yet more barbs from the minister.
"Oh come on Michael, there is nobody who is watching who doesn't identify you with the left," Mr Hunt said.
"It's important for you to be honest about your position and your origins. I am honest about my position and my origins, and indeed I was elected by the Australian people on that basis."
Rowland told the minister he would ask the same questions of a Labor government if they were in power, but still Mr Hunt refused to respond, deciding instead to continue trying to discredit the journalist.
The jarring on-air exchange was quickly amplified across mainstream and social media sites.
It is not the first time the Morrison government has been accused of politicising the response to a crisis.
Early last year, the prime minister posted a video to social media outlining the coalition's response to the summer bushfires.
The promotional video mentioned the deployment of Australian Defence Force personnel, and carried an official authorisation from Scott Morrison.
ADF chief Angus Campbell admitted was "discomforted" by the video.
Labor seized upon the comments to accuse Mr Morrison of turning the inferno into an opportunity for political advertising, which the prime minister flatly denied.
Australian Associated Press
