Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Hansard source

This speech condemning the shameful waste and mismanagement of this government is given by me more in sadness than in anger. We all come to this place to see Australia go ahead, to become a better place, no matter who is in government. But after three years of the Rudd government I despair at the lost opportunities, the cynicism, the incompetence and the extraordinary growth of government in our lives. I despair at the loss of international respect and standing, the emergence of major sovereign risk for those who look to invest in Australia, and the mounting cost pressures on families and the impact these have on their enjoyment of life.

We could fill days of debate documenting the monumental waste and mismanagement that has become the hallmark of this government, the waste and mismanagement that has cost this country billions of dollars and that has driven the serious cost-of-living pressures facing millions of Australians—the waste and mismanagement that now defines this government. We could go on and on about this shameful three-year record, but the critical question to ask is: why? Why is it that this government is now best known for its failure to manage the shop with any level of competence and judgement? Why is it that in three short years so little has been achieved and yet so much has been claimed? Why is it that the Australian people feel so short-changed? Why is it that so much the Rudd government touches turns to custard?

Why is it that Labor’s promised program of computers in schools for every student in years 9 to 12 has so far only delivered 220,000 of the one million computers and a blow-out of $1 billion? Why is it that Labor promised to cut spending on consultancies but have instead awarded $1.2 billion in consultancy contracts since coming to office? Why is it that Labor promised broadband for $4.7 billion but broke that promise, replacing it with a plan for $43 billion? Of course, in the process, they wasted $20 million on a cancelled tender process and spent another $25 million on yet another report by consultants—all for a white elephant that will put up to $43 billion of taxpayers’ money at risk.

Why is it that Labor claim to have all the answers on climate change and the environment but have dumped the ETS for the cynical purpose of trying to make some of the parameters within a budget work? Prime Minister, you know that that $10 billion was fundamental to reaching one of the key parameters in the budget. It was a very cynical move by this government, despite the Prime Minister on so many occasions saying this is the great moral challenge of this century. They have wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.

Just think of the money spent on thousands and thousands of hours of work by companies and individuals who took seriously the endless process of Senate committee inquiries, Garnaut reports 1, 2 and 3, the green paper and the white paper—all of that for nothing. There was $50 million worth of climate change advertising; 150 public servants administered the scheme, at a cost of $81 million; and 68 delegates were sent to Copenhagen, at a cost of $1½ million.

On top of this, in the environment area, there was the solar panel blow-out of $850 million and the dumping of $175 million on the Green Loans Program. The pink batts program, costing $2.45 billion, represents one of the monumental policy failures in this country’s history. It has resulted in 240,000 substandard installations, 1,500 electrified roofs, 120 house fires, four deaths and about $1 billion in waste—$1 billion of waste, four deaths and endless fires, and yet we discover that the Prime Minister knew about this, he was advised about this on several occasions over the last 12 months, and did nothing about it, and nor did his minister. He has misled this House by refusing to answer. He gave the impression he saw none of this, but by implication he has misled this House. All the minister for finance could say, in pathetic defence of this mismanagement and waste, was that it ‘wasn’t right to expect the government to be dotting i’s and crossing t’s because we are in a crisis situation’.

So far the most notorious example of government waste has been the pink batts, but this is likely to be superseded by the school halls program, which looks to have wasted many billions of its $16.7 billion. Dozens of examples of unconscionable waste are already in the public arena and each day seems to bring fresh evidence of more. Independent assessment has found that these school halls cost four times the amount of commercial buildings of a similar structure and nature. We are seeing billions and billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money being wasted, and this is the responsibility—though you would not think it—of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Why is it that border protection is seeing a $1 billion blow-out? The Prime Minister promised to take a very tough line on people-smuggling, promising before the election to turn around the boats, yet we have had 120 boats arrive during this government’s time in office, and that number is growing. Prior to that, under the Howard government, we had 18 boats in six years. This is again a monumental failure of policy, a fundamental failure of courage.

Why is it that the Prime Minister pledged to tackle the cost of living for working families and yet in my city of Melbourne, over the last 12 months, electricity has gone up by 23 per cent, petrol by 7.4 per cent, rent by 4.4 per cent, child care by 7.9 per cent, water by 17.6 per cent, medical costs by 6.8 per cent and fruit and veg by eight per cent? This is all after setting up and shutting down GroceryWatch at a cost of $10 million and setting up and shutting down Fuelwatch while petrol prices continued to rise.

Furthermore, why is it that Australia has the highest interest rates in the developed world, with the endless, reckless spending, overspending and bad spending of $52 billion of stimulus money, resulting in six interest rate rises, and pressure on interest rates and our exchange rate, costing families thousands of dollars extra on their mortgages and hurting our exporters with higher exchange rates? Young couples who bought houses last year on the promise of cheaper housing, with a scheme designed to encourage them to buy houses, are now paying up to $5,000 more in mortgage payments just one year later because of the panicked spending and misspending by this government over a 12-month period.

Why is it that many millions of dollars have been wasted on seeking a UN Security Council seat? Why is it that the government has managed to weaken our relationships with Japan, China and India, at great cost to us in the years ahead? Why is it that the government has proposed a 40 per cent tax on our great mining industry, threatening $310 billion worth of mining projects, hundreds of thousands of jobs and many billions of dollars of revenue over the next 30, 40 or 50 years? We have a window of opportunity in the next four or five years to put our foot on a whole host of 30-, 40- and 50-year projects. If we do not secure those, they will go to the rest of the world. We will export projects. We will export jobs. And we will see up to two or three generations of Australians materially worse off because of the short-sightedness and the political crassness of this government, which has imposed a tax to meet a budget requirement due to its incompetence, its mismanagement, its overspending, its bad spending and its waste and mismanagement.

The politics of envy has put at great risk the opportunity to rebuild the resilience of the economy that this government inherited. This government is incompetent in not urgently dealing with the issue of uncertainty that still prevails in the world economy. Why did this government break promises on superannuation, private health insurance, 260 childcare centres, capping IVF treatment, delivering GP clinics, being an economic conservative, means-testing the baby bonus, changes to employee share ownership and stopping whaling? And why did this government present a budget that is simply not believable, a house of cards, a budget that will collapse under the weight of a huge tax on the engine of growth and employment in Australia? Its budget surplus is a mirage. It will never occur because of the waste and mismanagement and the duplicity of this government in structuring a budget that is simply not believable, which is under threat from its own measures from within the budget.

This is what it has come to: a litany of failures and disappointments, a litany of incompetence and lack of performance. Government by spin. I put it to you that competence and performance is primarily a function of character, strength of character. Character is what you do when no-one is watching. Character is when you reach inside your soul and follow your convictions. Character is finishing what you start. Character is about courage and judgement, not belligerence and panic under pressure. Character is taking responsibility for inevitable mistakes. Character is staying true to commitments solemnly made. Character is leading by listening. And character is about trust—trusting others around you, your colleagues and trusting yourself; staying true to yourself.

Sadly, under all the pressures of government, the Prime Minister and his government have failed so often on these tests of character and all Australians are paying the price. The Prime Minister and his government have not stayed true to commitments solemnly made. Promise after promise has been broken with gay abandon or the cynicism of crass politics. The Prime Minister and his government have not shown courage and judgement under pressure. In response to the financial woes that struck the Northern Hemisphere so powerfully two years ago and then challenged the resilience of Australia’s economy and others, the Prime Minister panicked. The government overspent and poorly spent and, in the process, spent tens of billions of dollars of reserves—built-up with so much work and effort over the previous decade—and built a $100 billion debt in no time at all. Rather than quickly rebuilding the resilience of the economy they inherited, they have the highest interest rates in the developed world, huge cost of living pressures and great big new job-destroying taxes as a consequence.

The Prime Minister has not shown trust in those around him and has not shown the trust and courage to stick by his own convictions. Dumping the emissions trading scheme to manipulate a budget outcome and avoid a political battle showed enormous weakness, given his professed view that this was the greatest moral and economic challenge of this century. It is pathetic. Seeking ownership of every government decision shows a lack of trust in colleagues and a lack of personal confidence and self-belief. The Prime Minister reminds me of the home handyman we all know—he enthusiastically starts a hundred jobs and he finishes none of them. He lacks the character to finish what he starts.

The Prime Minister and his government have failed to lead by listening. If they were listening, they would be focused, overwhelmingly, on reducing the cost of living pressures that face millions of Australians and their families. Instead of endless reckless spending and mountains of debt, the government would have pushed interest rates down rather than up. The government should be living within its means. Instead of new taxes to pay for the reckless spending, the government should have the courage to make tough decisions. Instead of billions of dollars of waste and mismanagement, the government should focus less on managing the media spin each day and more on doing the hard yards of managing programs effectively.

The PM and his government have failed to take responsibility for inevitable mistakes. This character weakness worries people. They feel uncertainty about the PM’s strength in dealing with whatever lies ahead. Character is what you do when no-one is watching. Do we know this Prime Minister? Does he have the courage of his convictions, or is he a chameleon? A government that believes in nothing will deliver nothing. To date, the government is known as a government of all talk and no action. If you do not know where you are going, you will never get there. All of this is a direct result of the failure of the Prime Minister and his government to pass the character test. It is why we have witnessed a government lurching from one failure to another, building a monumental level of waste and mismanagement. (Time expired)

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