Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It does ring a bell. The gap in years might be big, but the parallels between then and now are pretty close.

Back in 2001, conservatives had been pummelled in state elections, and backbenchers and federal ministers were privately complained about how their 'leadership is not listening' and 'party meetings are a waste of time'. A Prime Minister and Treasurer were seen to have gone out of their way to alienate traditional Liberal supporters. Government leadership was seen to be tricky on issues like petrol. It was seen relying on fine print to change the impression that people might have had at the time of the election. Sounds similar. A conservative government was ignoring its base. It had to be dragged kicking and screaming to fix government mistakes. Within a five page memo penned by then Federal Liberal President Shane Stone lay the ultimate label to haunt a conservative government. One of their own condemned them by saying, memorably, that this was a government that was 'tricky, mean and out of touch'.

From this floor of parliament I make a request on behalf of hapless coalition backbenchers choking on their own fear: who will be their Shane Stone? Who will tell this government they are being tricky, mean and out of touch like their conservative predecessors? It has only taken one budget for Australia to realise that conservative governments are all alike.

This is one of the worst and most punishing budgets in recent memory, targeting the most vulnerable in our society. The fallout and anger directed towards the coalition since the budget's release is understandable. It is anger not just from within this place but throughout the community. It does not take an Ian Macdonald in the Senate to question the merits of the government's approach; Australia feels the pain of the cuts but also disbelief seeing a prime minister at that dispatch box argue that a cut is not a cut, arguing against reality—

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