Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

This government has reached a tipping point in what has been the worst week so far in the life of the Abbott government. Australians know that the Abbott government has let them down, and 446 days after they were elected there is a mood of national disappointment in the conduct and the decisions of the Abbott government. This has been a week of chaos and lies. We see the communications minister contradicting the Prime Minister. We see a hypothetical defence minister cutting the pay of our men and women and defaming the reputation of thousands of people who work at the Submarine Corporation. And then we see the Prime Minister's performance in question time all this week as a metaphor for a government adrift. They have had an opportunity to talk about their vision for the future; instead, they have descended into petty politics.

We have seen the veneer of civilisation slip from the Prime Minister's mask, and we have seen old Tony come back—the man more happy being in opposition than being in government. Life was simple when he was the opposition leader. All he ever had to do was oppose. But upon coming to government we have seen confirmed that this is a government bereft of vision. It is bereft of a plan. In May of this year they brought down arguably the most unfair budget in living memory. For six months this government flailed around trying to put propositions to the Australian people, which the Australian people will not accept.

Then this week we saw the farcical situation of the government announcing for the sixth time that they are going to reboot the budget. They had a council of war. They are going to de-barnacle the hull of the budget. They are going to remove the obstacles. They are going to get back to basics. But, in fact, what we have seen about their hateful ideology for this country, their unfair approach, is that last night the Prime Minister's Office had their media spinners talking to the people in the gallery, the media, saying: 'We've got this all under control. This is not the Titanic. We've got it under control.' What they said last night to the media is: 'We're going do drop off the GP tax for now. We're going to drop it off. We're not going to talk about it now.' No doubt, there were 30 or so marginal seat members breathing a sigh of relief. But this is such a confused, chaotic and incompetent government that this morning out rushed the notorious charm offensive of the government. For Australians who do not know whom I am referring to, I refer to Senator Eric Abetz. That would be the triumph of hope over experience sending him into charm people. He said, 'No, we're sticking to our policies.' Then, of course, you have got the worst health minister in living memory coming forward and saying, 'We are going to do whatever it takes.' He says that whatever it takes they will get the GP tax. What Labor informs Australians is that, even if this government does change its tactics, it has not changed its mind. It wants to make Medicare not universally accessible. We listened in question time to this hypocritical Prime Minister say that he is the best friend of Medicare that we have ever had. With best friends like that, you do not need enemies.

It has not just been their backflipping, their uncertainty, their chaos and their inability to line up their ducks when it comes to the issue of the GP tax. We hear rumours that the backbench members of the government do not like this idea of a $100,000 fee. Well, do you know what? They're right. Australians do not like the idea that their university fees will double and triple. They do not like the idea of 20 per cent of the universities' budgets being cut, and they certainly do not like the idea of $100,000 degrees. Australians do not like the idea that women who go to university and who will have broken service in their working careers because they choose to raise their children and take time out of work are going to be in debt for the rest of their lives to Christopher Pyne. Why would you like that idea?

So it is not just the GP tax where this government has got the wrong idea for the future of this country and no vision. It is not just on higher education that this government cannot be trusted with the future of Australia. We saw them this week have a ridiculous argument about: 'Are they cutting the ABC? Is it an efficiency dividend? Did Tony Abbott lie?'—all of the issues. We saw our poor Prime Minister tie himself up in knots, because he just cannot be straight with the Australian people. The poor old member for Wentworth was left holding the proverbial 'ABC baby'. He said, 'Well, yes, it's not an efficiency dividend; it's a cut.' I give him points for honesty. The poor old member for Wentworth lost to the Prime Minister on the republic, he lost the leadership and now he has lost the ABC fight. He is forced to be just a rubber stamp for Tony Abbott's cruel cuts to the ABC.

This is a government that is adrift domestically, and everyone knows that the mini-budget which the Treasurer has to bring down in December is the last shot in the locker for 2014 for this government. This is the government that has wasted a year and a quarter of government. This is a government that has done little, but we hear them talk about the G20. Saturday week ago the Prime Minister had the opportunity, scripted by Wayne Swan, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, to bring the leaders of the world. Labor wanted the nation to perform well. The Prime Minister of Australia, the chief spokesperson for Australia, had an opportunity to demonstrate that Australia is a forward-thinking, visionary country with a plan for the future. What did he say for eight excruciating minutes? For eight excruciating minutes Tony Abbott had a cry about the fact that Australians do not like the GP tax and they will not back the higher education reforms. It was cringeworthy, weird, bizarre and a missed opportunity. Even more than that—

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