Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I have to concur with the member for Griffith when he started his contribution to the debate in a very sombre tone, for what we are seeing is a funeral procession. It is the end. It is the death of the National Party. As they leave this chamber they should mark the days off on the wall, those last few days that they actually have in existence when they can call themselves the National Party. Whether it is days, weeks, months or years, their end has already been struck.

There are two big issues around right now, amongst the many important political issues affecting Australia’s national reputation—our reputation as an exporter, our credibility and the sort of impact it has on our national performance. One of those is our trade deficit: the way we trade, the problems we have had—our trade deficit is literally the worst in history—and all the associated problems.

The other of course is the deficit in the National Party itself. This is also the worst on record, and one that is continuing to slide. We do not need to look very far to see the evidence of either: our trade performance, our trade figures; or the deficit within the National Party. The big question, the question that is on everyone’s lips, including those of the National Party members and probably a few of the Liberal Party members, is: to merge or not to merge? What should they do? This is going to be a big question for them. I do not think they actually know the answer. Big questions; no real answers—to merge or not to merge.

The other big question is: what are they going to call themselves? What new name will they go by? They are going to play around with a few names—the Old Nationals, the New Liberals, the whatever you want to call them. But I might suggest at least one name to them. We should call them the Libirrationals. That is exactly what they are. These guys have no sense of which direction they are actually walking in. If you have ever seen footage of somebody trying to herd cats, you can imagine what it is like in the party room for the National Party on this issue. I think it is an apt name that we can start using right away. I encourage people to refer to them not as The Nationals in Queensland anymore but as the Libirrationals, because it perfectly reflects the collective, confused state of mind of the Queensland Liberals and the Queensland Nationals. Under this new name they will be well regarded.

For those of you who are not as familiar with Queensland politics and the particular nuances as I and the member for Griffith, the Libirrationals are supposed to be looking after country people. That is what they were set up to do. That is supposed to be their charter: country people, people living in the bush, regional Queensland and regional Australia. That is supposed to be what they do. But if you actually look at their record, who looks after people in the bush? It is the Labor Party. As is often said in this place, the best friend the people in the bush have ever had is the Labor Party. It is the Labor Party that looks after the interests of the bush. It is the Labor Party that stood up to this government, and this National Party in here, on the full sale of Telstra. That is something they have no answer for.

We heard a moment ago from the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the National Party—soon to be the Libirrationals—on a whole range of issues, defending his party and a whole heap of things. But he would not mention the ‘T’ word: Telstra. He will not mention it because he is ashamed. He has disgraced himself, disgraced his own party, because he did not stand up to his Liberal Party masters on the issue of Telstra. There are many big issues for country people, people in the bush, but you would have to say that one of the biggest for them in recent times has been telecommunications—the full sale of Telstra. There may be confusion in the minds of the National Party, but there is certainly no confusion in the minds of people who live in the bush. They know that, if they are going to prosper, if they are going to be productive, if they are going to be able to survive out in the bush, in tougher and tougher environments, then they will need world-class telecommunications. They simply will not get that from this government, and they certainly will not get it from their so-called friends, the National Party.

What we see in this place time after time is The Nationals capitulating to their Liberal masters, their political masters who stand over them. For too long the National Party have put the Liberal Party first and their constituents in the bush last. They have no clear answer on any of the issues that affect the bush. They have no clear ambition on any big issues in the bush. They just have clear ambitions for themselves, clear ambitions like those of the Deputy Prime Minister, who knows that the end of the National Party coalition spells the end of his deputy prime ministership. He knows that, were he to have to compete for his office and title against every other member in the Liberal Party, he might not succeed. That is the reality. They are in here debating all sorts of issues—protecting themselves, protecting their jobs, protecting their titles, protecting the benefits they enjoy from office. But I have not heard one of them yet—and we still have one more opportunity, from the member for Casey—

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