Last modified on Thu 8 Apr 2021 06.00 EDT
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused John Barilaro of âgaslightingâ the people of the Hunter Valley after the New South Wales deputy premier claimed air quality data had been manipulated by environmental groups.
Barilaro had claimed on Tuesday that concerns about poor air quality caused by coalmining in the region were exaggerated by environmental groups who âmanipulate the data to suit their argumentâ.
This was followed up with a separate attack yesterday by Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon, who claimed in an interview with 2GB that Turnbull himself had âliedâ about air quality figures in a submission made to the NSW planning regulator opposing the expansion of the Mount Pleasant coalmine.