Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. This amendment allows the government to finally make sure that the member for Dobell comes into the House and makes a statement to the parliament surrounding the issues which have been dogging and paralysing this government for far too long. If I were any Labor Party member of the House of Representatives, I would be demanding that my colleague the member for Dobell come into the parliament and make a statement and clear the air so the government can move on.

This issue has been paralysing the government all week, and for longer in the public eye. All week in the parliament the opposition has tried to give the member for Dobell an opportunity to make a personal explanation and he has refused to do so. If I were a member of the Labor Party caucus I would be wondering: 'Why are we allowing this guy to drag us down? Why are we allowing the member for Dobell to stop the government from getting on with the business of being interested in jobs, being interested in how to resolve this carbon tax dilemma and being interested in how to protect our borders?' Today in the Australian Financial Review Geoff Kitney writes:

One Labor elder says, "It's as ugly out in the electorate as it can get. The depth of anger and hostility is reminiscent of the worst times in 1975 and in 1996. It's absolutely dire."

He goes on to say—

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