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

I hear the deputy opposition leader saying, 'Come on!' You are only worth a D, but I will give you marks for turning up. Your behaviour and attention, however, leave a bit to be desired. Maybe you could improve on that as you work towards the next election. Maybe you could work on your discipline. In this game you have to be straight down the line and tell it like it is.

I acknowledge that there is much work for the government to do. I acknowledge that there is a job to be done. We are putting our shoulder to the wheel despite the relentless negativity and obstruction from those opposite. We have done very well in many of the key areas we said we would prior to the 2013 election. We have delivered. The carbon tax has gone; that means $550 savings for the average household and family. The boats have it stopped. They came in their hundreds under Labor—their hundreds—but we stopped them. Just one has arrived since the responsible people were put in power. That has saved money. It has allowed more places for humanitarian purposes and, most importantly, has saved lives. The roads, as promised, are being built. Contrast our record with those who rightly occupy the opposition benches. Let us dig a little deeper into this dreaded D that Labor has deserved for its underachievement—in fact, D could be quite a theme for Labor.

They are in denial. They are refusing to believe the result of the 7 September 2013 election. They are delusional, thinking they are still in government. I say to them: get over it. They are divided and they are dysfunctional. The factional rift is still wide and it is growing by the day.

The opposition leader is a puppet. He is a mere puppet played by the unions and, if anyone thinks the unions are not up to their old thuggish ways, then just take a look at the front page of The Australian today—a bit of biffo, bully boy tactics; typical union tactics—disgraceful. It might have worked on the wharves once upon time, but there should be no such room for standover militancy—

Opposition members interjecting—

I can hear them yelling, because they love their unions. In Australia in 2015—and the next Labor speaker would do well to come to the despatch box and say that that behaviour that went on yesterday was deplorable.

Labor are disinclined to help this nation back to prosperity, back to economic stability, back to business confidence, back to jobs growth. Just take the scrapping of the East West Link project in Melbourne by the new Daniel Andrews Labor Victorian government—a loss of a billion dollars in investment as compensation and 7,000 jobs. We heard from the Treasurer today in question time—7,000 jobs; typical Labor.

Labor are becoming increasingly desperate. They plumbed the depths when in government and they are no better in opposition with the member for Maribyrnong in charge—deplorable, disruptive to good government, destructive, disliked. They are derelict in their duty to provide sensible, measured, reasonable and mature opposition as we did when the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government was sending this country to the wall.

Labor treated Australians with disdain. The dilemma we face is to get Australia working again and to overcome the debt and deficit—they are two words—

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