Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is outrageous but, if it pleases the House, I will withdraw.

But it is laughable for the Labor government to assure us that this legislation has been designed to prevent this sort of discrimination. This bill is absolute nonsense. Big Brother's fingerprints are all over this bill. I believe it is also very important to look at the small charities—those charities that are there to support the families in Darwin and Palmerston when they need help. What is going to happen to them? Many of these small charities are run by volunteers who give up time to help vulnerable members of our community and who are now to be expected to spend time doing annual reports or audits to make it easier for the bureaucrats in Canberra to keep track of them. This is absolutely farcical.

What worries me most—and maybe you will have the answer, Mr Deputy Speaker—is who will decide what constitutes a charity? I see no evidence that will ensure that this person will be impartial, and even if this Labor government tell us that they are impartial, how can we trust them? If we just remember back to the failed Big Brother internet filter that Labor tried to introduce back when they were first elected, it was made up of a black list that was only meant to stop child pornography and other illegal content. Yet, somehow, a Brisbane dentist got onto that list. This Labor government have a terrible track record of implementing policies—we all know that. We just have to look at the pink batts, the cash for clunkers, the digital set-top boxes—just to name a few. The Rudd and Gillard experiments have failed. The socialist, Big Brother approach of Labor over the past five years has failed. Debt, deficit and waste—that is all they have to show for it.

I believe it is also important to raise the issues that will affect future generations. There is no evidence in the legislation that this bill will provide the flexibility to adapt the definition of 'charity' in the future. If a new issue were to arise in the future and individuals wished to set up a charity to provide for it, how would provisions be provided to allow the changing of this definition? The answer is that they do not know. This is yet another example of Labor's policy on the run. What I also find astounding is that Prime Minister Gillard and the Labor government would bring this piece of legislation through the parliament at this time. They are trying to rush it through, like they have done so many times before. We all remember the media reforms, do we not? This Labor government have such little faith in its own well-intentioned citizens that it cannot overlook the enormous problems confronting Australians to introduce such uncalled for laws.

This legislation should be consigned to the rubbish bin. Instead, the Labor government should be concentrating on reeling in their wasteful spending, securing our borders and solving their leadership tensions, so that the people of my electorate in Darwin and Palmerston can once again feel certain about their futures. But that will never happen. The election is only 88 days away and we are not even certain who will lead the Labor Party to the election. Will it be the Prime Minister, the member for Griffith or perhaps the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations? The people of my electorate, of Darwin and Palmerston, tell me that 14 September, just 88 days away, cannot come soon enough. They are tired of the Gillard Labor government soap opera.

This legislation, as I said, needs to be put in the bin—just like the Labor government. Australians are looking for strong leadership and a plan. They are tired of the Gillard Labor government, which is mired in chaos and indecision, demonstrating day after day that it is hopelessly divided and dysfunctional. But there is another way: the coalition can deliver Australia with the strong, stable and accountable government that our country needs. We have a positive plan based on hope, reward and opportunity, and that plan will delivery a stronger and prosperous economy and a safe and secure future.

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