Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have no doubt the members opposite are uncomfortable with this debate and do not wish to have this debate today. Indeed, the member for Mitchell declares his weariness and his boredom at today's MPI debate because we again have to draw attention to the Abbott government's failure to listen, learn and change. It is the worst debate ever, he insists. Well, that reflects the worst government performance ever. It is members on this side of the House, like many members of our community, who have to, on a daily basis, reflect on your broken promises—the broken promises this Prime Minister continues to add to on a day-by-day basis.

Today, however, I want to start by reminding members opposite of the words of your Prime Minister on the night that he was elected:

I now look forward to forming a government that is competent, that is trustworthy, and which purposely and steadfastly and methodically sets about delivering on our commitments to you, the Australian people.

Prime Minister, you have failed the Australian people. You have failed to form a government that is competent; you have failed to form a government that is trustworthy; and you have most definitely failed to act purposefully, steadfastly or methodically to deliver on your pre-election promises. Despite these obvious failures and, indeed, many others, you continue to let the Australian people down as you fail to listen, learn and change. You have shut your doors, switched off the phones and failed to listen to the voicemail messages. Your promise to listen to your backbench is not enough. You need to listen to the Australian people and you need to change tack.

Community groups, service providers and advocacy groups in my electorate of Newcastle, which rely on government funding to deliver vital community services, have been completely shut out of the discussions here. They have tried writing letters and they have tried being polite to you; now they are having to scream from the rooftops to get your attention and let you know just how cruel these cuts are, what changes the cuts are forcing upon them and how hard these changes are hitting our community. The levels of uncertainty and the ongoing limbo you leave them in is pushing them all to breaking point.

From our homeless organisations to Indigenous health, our legal service providers, our GPs, the Hunter Medicare Local, the University of Newcastle, our shipbuilders at Forgacs in Newcastle—all of these organisations and service providers cannot wait any longer for you to get your house in order. They cannot afford to keep waiting for the Prime Minister and this government to get back to the job of governing.

There is plenty of action from the Prime Minister when it is his job on the line, but they are not so worried about the hundreds of other jobs in my electorate—and in plenty of others—who are also faced with their jobs on the line. These are the jobs of hardworking Australian men and women. You need to listen and you need to act. They need the certainty. They need you to make right decisions for Newcastle and the broader Australian community.

The Australian people are firmly telling you that they do not like what you are doing and they do not trust you. They are not satisfied with your performance, because you are not listening; you are completely out of touch. It is truly astonishing that in 16 months you have become so completely and utterly out of touch with the Australian people you purport to represent.

The Member for Wentworth confirmed yesterday in question time that it is not just the Prime Minister who has his fingers jammed firmly in his ears, it is the entire government that cannot listen. The Minister for Communications—the man who is putting himself forward, albeit in a shadowy way, as the alternative leader of the government—said in question time, 'Of course every single member of the government supported every element in the budget; of course. We are a united government.' The nation erupted in laughter.

The Finance Minister, Senator Mathias Cormann, confirmed how out of touch the government is when he said on the weekend, 'No minister has ever said to me that this budget is unfair.' (Time expired)

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