Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

Confected rage and bluff and bluster will never be a substitute before the jury of rural people and public opinion on hardcore policy that is credible, that is targeted and that is properly enlisting country people. The funniest statement amongst many in the presentation by the Leader of the Opposition today, which I will address, was that the National Party was founded to compete with the Australian Labor Party, which was created in the bush. That is not an accurate reading of history. The National Party was created by its forefathers because of the failures of the Labor Party in representing country Australia, just as it remains the case almost 90 years later.

The sweeping and challenging final statement of the Leader of the Opposition was that the Australian Labor Party will represent country Australia today as it did those 90 years ago. You only have to rely on the assessment of one of their senior frontbenchers, the shadow Assistant Treasurer, Mr Fitzgibbon—

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