Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my colleagues for their support. Thank you for being here and staying and being attentive throughout the course of my matter of public importance. A little earlier this week, the Leader of the Opposition was asked what it would mean should the Labor Party swap leaders from Julia Gillard to Kevin Rudd. He reflected that it would be like swapping from Burke to Wills, both of whom failed on their journey. As we approach the 150th anniversary of the death of both Burke and Wills, who were declared to be dead on the same day, for historical purposes, by the Victorian government 149 years ago, never let it be said that we are not the party mindful of history. We are. We are mindful of the fact that Burke and Wills failed on their journey, but indeed they were captivated by a heroic ambition, and that was to cross the continent.

Sadly, the modern-day Burke and Wills, the Prime Minister and the former Prime Minister, possess neither the ambition nor the courage to be able to deliver something so grandiose as a good government. Australians deserve a good government. They deserve a competent and consistent government. The Australian economy, which is enjoying the very best terms of trade in 150 years, deserves strong leadership. And yet over the last four years the Burke and Wills of modern-day Australian politics have completely misled the Australian people. They have on so many occasions said one thing but delivered the absolute opposite. They have made grandiose claims but have never been able to back them up with reality.

I have compiled a list. It is just a short list, covering 100 separate issues! As I have less than 13 minutes, I will select but a few to remind my colleagues of the inconsistency of the modern-day Labor Party over the last four years. For example, we recall that in 2007 the Labor Party promised to cut the bill for consultants substantially as part of their budget savings. And yet over the following two years they spent over $1 billion on consultants. They said they would build a broadband network for $4.7 billion. They have had a $30 billion blow-out. They said they would simplify the GST paperwork for small business. The shadow minister would appreciate that. They promised BAS easy in 2007, and then they scrapped it in 2009. What about the trade training centres, my colleague the shadow minister for education? They promised 2,650 trade training centres. But they have delivered one. And how could we forget Peter Garrett, the former minister for the environment? He promised to take Japan to the International Court of Justice to stop whaling. Of course, that never eventuated either. With Fuelwatch—

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