Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to speak to the matter of public importance before the House today, because it is actually very important that we talk about the failure of the Turnbull-Abbott government to deliver stability. We have seen an utter failure to provide any stability and it is an utter shame, particularly given the challenging economic times in which we live.

Mr Deputy Speaker, if you want to think about those challenging economic times, I think it is always useful to give a bit of a stocktake of where we are. At the moment we have unemployment that is not only above six per cent but that has been six per cent or higher since May 2014, coincidentally the date of the first Abbott-Turnbull budget—that disgrace of a federal budget that we saw last year that so shattered confidence and harmed our economy.

What else can we say about the economic circumstances of the time? Last quarter's GDP growth was 0.2 of one per cent—a shocking result. It is even more shocking when you realise that it is half of what the government thought our GDP growth was going to be for the quarter. Probably even more concerning, I think, for the people in this parliament is the fact that disposable income per capita has contracted for five consecutive quarters. For the past five consecutive quarters, gross disposable income per capita has shrunk. It is a very concerning state of affairs that we have for the people of this nation. What is the point of stable government and what is the point of good government if not to deliver for the living standards of the people of this nation?

These are very troubling times for our country and these troubling times demand strong leadership. They demand stable government and they demand a group of parliamentarians in whom the public can have trust. But what have we got instead? We saw the knifing of a Prime Minister last night by someone whose self-interest is a matter of public record.

It is almost as though we are dealing with someone who, for all of his life, wanted to be Prime Minister. In fact, he actually did a really interesting interview some time ago, in which he claimed that he would be Prime Minister before he was 40. When asked for which party, he said, 'Oh, it doesn't matter.' This is the importance of power to this man. This is a man who cares about powers so much that he is prepared to compromise on principles that he purportedly held dear. He would sell his own grandmother in order to be the Prime Minister. It is a surprise that he has not done that!

Last night I thought to myself, 'This man is a sell-out.' What did I get today? Confirmation of the fact that he is a sell-out. Last night it was a suspicion. But today in question time it was proven beyond any doubt when this Prime Minister stood up for the radical Right of his party, for the radical Right of his base, when he compromised on his previously held-so-dear commitment to combating climate change, caring about the future of this world and actually taking meaningful action on climate change. What has he done? He said, 'Oh well, I know these targets are terrible, but I'm going to cop them because that is what the Right needs for me to become Prime Minister.' That is the sort of man we now have in the prime ministership of this nation—someone who would compromise on climate change.

It is actually worse than it was under former Prime Minister Abbott. Prime Minister Abbott did not believe in climate change. He thought the science was—I cannot use the unparliamentary language, but we know what he thought of the science. We also know that this Prime Minister actually understands the science and the significance of climate change and the challenge that our globe faces. Even though he understands the challenge that we all face and the work that needs to be done, nonetheless, he is prepared to cop to the radical Right and the inadequate targets that the former Prime Minister, the member for Warringah, had determined. He is going to cop them, even though he knows it is the wrong thing to do and that is why, when it comes to climate change, he is worse than the former Prime Minister.

He is also worse when it comes to marriage equality. Marriage equality is something that so many people across our country hold dear. So many people, their friends, their families, would like to see it resolved and resolved without a divisive national fight and a national publicly funded opinion poll. The Prime Minister knows how we can do it. We can do it with a free vote, but he is sold out on that as well. He is a sell-out of a Prime Minister. It is a disgrace.

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