Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is beginning to feel sorry for the prime minister, saying his "tweet rampage" shows he is feeling the pressure of running the government.
Malcolm Turnbull launched a Twitter tirade on Sunday in a response to a media report claiming the government will scrap concession cards and welfare payments in the May budget.
In a series of four rapid-fire tweets, the prime minister slapped down the report in News Corp newspapers which said the government was looking to scrap all welfare payments below $20.02 a fortnight, a change targeted at aged pensioners.
Mr Turnbull said the report was "false" and he "outright" rejected it.
"I can assure all aged pensioners the measure reported will NOT be in the budget," he tweeted.
In another tweet he said he had assured the author of the story this was the case, "but she insisted on writing the story".
He also attacked the opposition leader saying: "And sadly, I can assure you that you can always rely on Bill Shorten to lie".
Mr Shorten said Mr Turnbull's personal attack on him in his "tweet meltdown" is the way he ends every public conversation these days.
'I'm starting to feel sorry for Mr Turnbull," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne.
"Mr Turnbull, I think, is showing signs of pressure. He can't cope with the pressure."
He said Mr Turnbull should focus on the needs of everyday Australians instead of blaming Labor.
Social Services Minister Christian Porter said the newspaper article, which cited a departmental document, was "wrong".
"Such a proposal would not be fair to pensioners and any such measure will NOT be in the budget," Mr Porter said in a statement.
The proposal referred to in the article was nothing more than a suggestion put forward by a department and immediately rejected by the government, as the journalist responsible for the article was advised, he said.
