Tony Abbott, the Australian prime minister, reacted furiously to a question from a reporter during a press conference on Wednesday, calling her “madam”, after she suggested the New South Wales Liberal government was corrupt in the wake of the resignation of the premier, Barry O’Farrell.
The journalist, believed to be Nicola Berkovic, a reporter for the Australian, had asked: “Prime minister, do you trust this government – the state government – which is proving to be corrupt, to deliver your major infrastructure plans?”
“That is an entirely unjustified smear,” said Abbott. “Let me not mince my words, madam, an entirely unjustified smear and frankly, I think you should withdraw that and apologise because there is no evidence whatsoever for that.”
Abbott asked her to provide evidence for her claim. He later said: “Without wanting to get into an argument with the media, what you have just said is very different from the accusation, the statement, that you earlier made and we need to have decent standards in this country. We need to have decent standards from the media, if I may say so, as well as decent standards from politicians.”
Abbott’s news conference in Liverpool, Sydney, on Wednesday was to unveil a $3.5bn roads package for western Sydney, including the infrastructure around the city's planned second airport.
Many reporters instead asked questions about the NSW Liberal premier who resigned in the wake of controversy over his appearance at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac). A signed thank you note for a $3,000 bottle of wine, which O’Farrell said he had never received, was tendered to Icac.
In July the prime minister told Guardian Australia journalist Bridie Jabour to “calm down” during a news conference, when she tried to ask him about claims for travel expenses he was asked to repay following his Battlelines book tour.