Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I suspect it might have been one of the backbenchers up there who said:

There's a lot of passengers in quite a lot of senior positions, said one MP backing a reshuffle.

And indeed there are. Not only does this Leader of the Opposition not have a plan for Australia's future; he has not even had a plan for a three-year term in opposition. Every day he has engaged in a strategy which is based upon the election being called tomorrow. That is why he has not put forward constructive suggestions. That is why 407 pieces of legislation have been carried in this parliament. Not only have the opposition failed to knock one off but they have failed even to get an amendment up without the government's support. Here in this parliament, one in which the crossbenchers have a particularly critical role to play, the opposition have not even been able to achieve that.

The words of Robert Menzies were right. He said:

… on far too many questions we have found our role to be simply that of the man who says ‘No’ … There is no room in Australia for a party of reaction. There is no useful place for a policy of negation.

That is what we are seeing and that is why this Leader of the Opposition is the most unpopular Leader of the Opposition in Australia's history. (Time expired)

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