RAYMOND Drury says his confrontation with the Prime Minister at the Edgeworth Tavern wasn't about politics, but was the only option left to have his "voice heard".
"I didn't mean it to be disrespectful. But it's just the emotional build up," Mr Drury told the Newcastle Herald.
"After twelve years of being ignored I was frustrated and I'm not going to give my respect to someone who doesn't respect me.
"I've heard the Liberal supporting media saying that I was out of line and drunk but I'm a coeliac and don't drink. The only reason I fired up is because he wanted to walk away from me.
"People always talk about politicians not passing the pub test. I thought the best place for a pub test is at the pub."
As a long-time unionist, Mr Drury has a track record of voting Labor. However, the 73-year-old pensioner says there's "no way" he will vote for either major party again.
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"I only said that to Scott Morrison because he was there. But if Anthony Albanese had walked into that pub I would have given him the exact same treatment," he said.
At Edgeworth Tavern on Wednesday night, Mr Drury called out the PM on "broken promises" and what he described to the Herald as a "lack of integrity".
"Morrison is always smug. If something gets too hard he just says 'That's not my problem. I don't hold the hose'."
Mr Drury said police were called to the Edgeworth Tavern on Wednesday night to ensure he didn't go back into the venue after speaking with a member of Mr Morrison's team.
Mr Drury also said contact with the PM's office since the confrontation had led to "no real results".
Born in a "squatters camp" know as Hollywood, near Jesmond Park, Mr Drury said he was raised in orphanages and by adopted families.
"My house was four poles with hessian bags and dirt floor," Mr Drury said.
"My father was murdered in the camp when I was four years old and my mother died of cancer three years later.
"I've had to know how to fight for what I want."
Formally employed as a "brickies labourer" most his life - but doing the work of a foreman - Mr Drury said it was repairing the blast furnaces at BHP steelworkers where he was exposed to asbestos which has resulted in two tumours.
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Due to this ailment, along with prostrate cancer, he retired ten years early and earns just over $200 a fortnight from the Workers' Compensation (Dust Diseases) Authority as compensation.
This payment, Mr Dury says, is then taken as tax from his disability pension - a point he raised with the Prime Minister in Edgeworth.
"This is what I got cranky about you see. Morrison and Frydenberg saying the most you're going to pay is 30 cents in the dollar and I'm paying 100 cents in the dollar," he said.
"I have a right to earn an income on top of my pension but it's taken from me because it's worded as a compensation payment.
"That's $70,000 I'm owed from the last 12 years I've been fighting for. Why shouldn't I get payment for something I got while earning my living."
The other issue Mr Drury raised with the PM was to do with his Filipino partner.
"I've been with her for six years and she is still waiting to get a visa," he said.
"Even though she has been working in a hospital for two years and is paying half the rent in my unit, because she is younger than me they just haven't given her a visa.
"I should have a right to choose who my partner is."
However, Mr Drury said, his frustration goes beyond the specific issues and to a "lack of empathy" from both major parties.
"What happened at the pub was the only option I had left. When you try to go through the proper channels they just ignore you," he said.
"They promised in the lead up to the last election that those people who have had a go will get a go.
"Why would I trust a Prime Minister who breaks his promises and won't even vote for an integrity commission to scrutinise his own government."
