Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

No. It was because we had a tax debate and the member for Hotham—and I know he is watching right now—propagated and managed the mother of all scare campaigns ever to be launched in this country against a good taxation change for the benefit of the community, called the GST. It was the mother of all scare campaigns, run by the member for Hotham. By the way, a member who just left the chamber, Alan Griffin, now the member for Bruce, came in on that campaign, which I was thrown out on, in 1993. He is still here. He remembers what happened.

He also saw the amazing scare campaign of 1998. What was it on? It was on tax. What was the tax? A GST. How many seats did the government of the day lose during the tax debate? Nineteen seats. I am saying to the backbench of the Labor Party right now: there is a huge issue. The leaders in your party got you into this mess. Have a look at the percentages by which most of your leadership, except for your Treasurer, hold their seats and ask whether they will be here after the next election. The answer is: yes, they will be here. Will you be here? No, you will not be here. Not just on the current trends—I am talking about when you are arguing to us about a major scare campaign on a tax, having been in that place where you are today, holding your seat, wondering whether you are going to make it, wondering whether you are going to have a wage into the future. It has been hard to get there; it is hard to hold. I am talking to every member of your backbench in this government now, and those that have been around for a while know exactly what I am talking about here. You have one way out of this.

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