Labor’s Climate Change minister Chris Bowen has been sledged online for posting a bizarre screenshot of a text, supposedly between himself and a staffer, patting himself on the back about energy prices.
The screenshot was posted to Mr Bowen’s X profile on Wednesday afternoon and appeared to show the minister’s media advisor asking their ‘boss’ whether to post energy data on social media.
It read: ‘Hey boss, new ABS data out today shows that our Govt’s Energy Bill Rebates helped lower energy bills by 6.4%.
‘Without them, bills would have gone up and Aussie homes and businesses would be paying more.
‘Want me to post it on your social media?’
Mr Bowen replied: ‘Good stuff, yeah post right away, thx mate.’
The message referred to a $300 energy rebate Labor unveiled in the 2024-25 Federal Budget in May, which was heavily criticised at the time because the scheme was not means tested.
Users slammed the ‘cringe’ post, asking whether the text was genuine.
Chris Bowen (pictured) has been slammed over a ‘cringe’ tweet about Labor’s energy rebate
On Wednesday, a screenshot of a text was posted on Chris Bowen’s X page, supposedly showing an exchange between himself and his media staffer
One user said: ‘Siri, give me an example of cringe.’
Another wrote: ‘I’m just here for the comments…they’re great. I’m waiting for you to delete this but in the end you’ll never live this down.’
A third person said the rebate was taxpayer-funded: ‘Well technically you’re just paying part of my bill, with my money, before I get [it]. Magic pudding finances.’
Some asked whether the screenshot was a text Mr Bowen sent himself.
One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts commented: ‘Oops. Blundering Bowen AGAIN. As usual, the people pay for his blunders. It seems he sent the message to himself.’
Another wrote: ‘Just when you think Bowen couldn’t be any worse..He posts a screenshot of him messaging himself.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Bowen for comment.
The text exchange marked a departure from his regular routine slamming Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Australians were quick to slam Mr Bowen for the ‘cringe’ post (pictured)
Mr Bowen’s team has penned about 30 tweets mentioning Mr Dutton directly since the start of August, with cracks at Nationals leader David Littleproud scattered in between.
He has only written about five posts praising his own government within the same period.
On Tuesday, he uploaded a video of himself reacting to Mr Dutton’s plan to build seven nuclear power plants on the sites of decommissioned coal-fired plants by 2050.
Holding up a newspaper, he said: ‘Can you believe it?
‘Two months ago, Peter Dutton announced seven sites for nuclear reactors and he told us he’d done all the homework and all the studies, and now he’s saying if there’s earthquakes there, he’ll cancel those sites.
‘Well, Peter, if you cancel those sites, where will the energy come from? Will other sites be chosen? Will other communities have nuclear reactors? This policy’s an absolute mess.’
Earlier this week, Mr Dutton said nuclear reactors would be able to deal with earthquake tremors in the Hunter Valley area, near one proposed site.
Social media users suggested he stop the constant attacks against the Coalition.