Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I was privileged this morning to attend a great statement of Australian democracy. It was refreshing to be able to stand with 50,000 to 60,000 of my fellow Australians against what the government is doing to ordinary Australian families. It was refreshing to see ordinary Australians standing up for their democratic rights, determined to protect and advance the interests and concerns of their families in the face of an indifferent government that over the last 10 years in office has gradually turned its back on the middle Australians whom it claims to represent.

It comes as a little bit of a surprise, but not too much of a surprise, when I come back to Canberra, to notice members of this tricky Howard government, who, with the exception of course of the Prime Minister, never venture outside this city ot their own capital cities, deliberately understating the crowds around the nation protesting against these extreme IR laws. These protests were taking place at some 300 sites.

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