Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Parkes’s dream is Australia’s nightmare. Having this man in charge of water is something that no Australian would want, particularly not those Australians in rural and regional communities. But as the shadow minister for water, I cannot ask him questions, even though he himself says that he is responsible for the nation’s water crisis. We all know that his appointment is all about Nationals favours, not national interest. It is all about trying to hide the fact that he was demoted and that the member for Sturt was not promoted, because the member for Sturt is the other person who has been given this title of parliamentary secretary—in his case Parliamentary Secretary and Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing.

You have to feel sorry for the member for Sturt. We on this side are the great party of compassion in this nation. The member for Sturt was actually a shadow minister. It is hard to believe, but when the current foreign minister was the Leader of the Opposition—and, yes, that really did happen—he appointed the member for Sturt as a shadow minister. It was from 1994 to 1996. But since they came to government in 1996, the member for Sturt has sat up the back, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Imagine how you would feel after being let down again, if you are sitting there and you look at the minister for local government, the former Minister for Community Services, the minister for tourism—all these people who jumped the queue ahead of him, as he would see it, and he gets overlooked again. So you can imagine the discussion: ‘This is unfair. I have been loyal, Prime Minister. I have been loyal to you.’ We know that that is not true, but that is beside the point. He would have said that. Then: ‘Please give me something.’ So what do they do? They invent this title. This title has been invented—

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