Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be speaking on this matter of public importance and very pleased that the member for McMahon is in the chamber. Yesterday he was not in the chamber and that is why we did not have an MPI. We saw that unedifying spectacle of the Manager of the Opposition Business coming to the dispatch box begging, pleading and cajoling the Speaker saying, 'Could you please just let the member for McMahon in the chamber. I know he has been punted under standing order 94(a), but could you please let him into the chamber so that he could lead our debate on the MPI?' Obviously nobody else over that side was good enough because the member for Watson pulled the plug on the MPI yesterday. It reminded me of Cameron Smith of Queensland or New South Wales's Paul Gallen begging Shayne Hayne saying, 'I know you have sin binned them but can you just please let our star players back on the field because we need help in the State of Origin?'

Labor certainly needs help. They are in a state of denial about the September 7 election result last year. They are in a state of denial that the people spoke and said that they did not want a carbon tax. It took vote after vote after vote. Like a desperate person clinging to a life raft, they wanted the carbon tax restored. They did not want it repealed but today in the Senate sanity has prevailed, 39 votes to 32. And the carbon tax is gone.

We went to the last election with a plan. We heard the member for Moncrieff say that the other side has no plan. The member for Maribyrnong, the so-called opposition leader, has no policy direction. When he stood here at the dispatch box for 10 minutes, he gave no plan, did he, member for Moncrieff? He has absolutely no policy ideas. But we went to the election with a plan. We have to fix up the debt and deficit that has been left by Labor.

The previous government turned nearly $50 billion in the bank into projected net debt of more than $200 billion. Listen to this, Labor members, who are screeching and crying over there: Labor's legacy to Australia was 200,000 more unemployed and on the jobless queues and gross debt projected to rise to $667 billion.

Mr Neumann interjecting—

That is because they are listening to me. The Australian public have stopped listening to your side and they will stop voting for you next time. There were $123 billion in cumulative deficits.

Opposition members interjecting—

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