Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, and I think anybody hearing the Leader of the Opposition’s question can no doubt sympathise with him that he is obviously looking forward to a Christmas break. Can I say to the Leader of the Opposition, who appears to have brought question 11 from yesterday’s question time pack, that the government is of course getting on with the job of methodically delivering reforms in this country because we want this nation to build for the opportunities of the future. I know that the Leader of the Opposition finds this quite hard to intellectualise. He finds it quite hard to accept.

Famously there was a supermodel who said that she did not get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day. Well, the Leader of the Opposition does not get out of bed without a focus group report for the day. He puts the alarm clock off, gets out of bed, grabs for the focus group report, sees what three-line slogan he has for that day and then, like a ventriloquist’s doll, he goes and repeats it mechanically time after time. And is it only me who wonders why every one of the Leader of the Opposition’s three-word slogans always starts with stopping something or ending something? This is a man who is always keen to tell you what he is opposed to but can never tell you what he would do or support. He is completely unable to define a vision for the future for this country. Well, the government has a vision for the future for this country. We understand that it requires a strong economy. We understand that it requires being ready for the challenges of the future. We understand that it requires governing for all Australians. We understand that that means investments in things like education and health to make a difference for the opportunities of Australians right around the country and irrespective of the circumstances of their birth. We understand that it requires keeping Australia safe and secure in the world. So we will leave the Leader of the Opposition with his bitterness and negativity and we will get on with the job.

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