Karl Stefanovic has apologised for trying to stitch up Malcolm Turnbull on Australia’s national government debt, quoting a wildly inaccurate figure.
The Today show host suffered an embarrassing blooper on Wednesday morning when he relied on a ticker screen number from the Australian Debt Clock website to ask the prime minister what Australia’s national debt was.
However he backed down when Mr Turnbull nominated a figure that was close to Australia’s actual net government debt figure, which stands at almost $347 billion.
Karl Stefanovic has apologised to viewers for quoting a wildly inaccurate government debt figure
Stefanovic on Thursday apologised for quoting a $6.5 trillion figure, which includes Australia’s total government and private sector borrowing level.
This number is 19 times the net government debt level relied on by economists to describe public sector borrowing levels in Australia.
‘We are very sorry for the confusion,’ he told his Nine Network viewers.
‘I take full responsibility for confusing you and myself. I’m still confused.’
Interviewing the prime minister on the Today show, Stefanovic relied on a ticker at the bottom of the screen which was incorrectly titled ‘National government debt’.
He then challenged Mr Turnbull – who was unable to see the ticker – over the number, asking him if he knew what it was.
Karl Stefanovic (pictured, left) has suffered an embarrassing blooper on live TV when his attempt to stitch up Malcolm Turnbull (pictured, right) over the national debt ended in confusion
But when Turnbull’s response was much lower than rapidly-rising number on the screen, Stefanovic looked confused by the disparity and backed down.
‘How can you offer tax cuts for middle-income battlers when the debt of this country is spiralling out of control? Let’s have a look at the debt right now,’ said Stefanovic on the Today show.
‘That’s the national debt, right where you are, PM, you can’t see it where you are, any idea what that number is?’.
Mr Turnbull replied: ‘The net debt is around $360 billion.
The on-screen display read $6,515,286,300,335 – more than $6.5 trillion – a figure which is 19 times Australia’s net debt level.
Interviewing the prime minister on the Today show, Stefanovic (pictured) revealed a ticket at the bottom of the screen incorrectly titled ‘National government debt’
Rather than question the prime minister over the seemingly-incorrect response, Stefanovic made an awkward comment about the ‘distracting’ number instead.
The figure on the ticker appears to have been the total Australian debt, which includes both government and private sector debts.
Treasury budget estimates figures, released in May, estimate Australia having a net national debt of $347 billion for 2017-18, which is forecast to hit $356 billion in the next financial year.
The net national debt is calculated by subtracting some government assets from the gross debt.
He then challenged Mr Turnbull (pictured) – who was unable to see the ticker – over the number, asking him if he knew what it was