Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

You have a plan so cunning, haven't you? From one end of the member for Wentworth's universe to another, from Edgecliff all the way to Watsons Bay, people are breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, someone sensible is in charge, they are thinking. The member for Wentworth has been out there for six years—a nod, a wink, a quiet word here—saying, 'Gosh, this Tony Abbott; he's not much good, is he? Put me in charge and see how things will change.'

We had a question time today that showed exactly how little things will change with the change of leadership. Here we have the people of Australia thinking, 'Thank goodness, we can have a change in climate change. We can have more ambitious targets; 50 per cent renewable energy. We can do something about funding for the ABC. We can move forward on marriage equality. We can do something about public transport.' I have never seen more selfies of someone catching a train! Does he want an award for this? They are thinking, 'We can restore some funding to the aid budget.' All of these changes that the member for Wentworth has been intimating to the people of Australia—with a nod, a wink and a sly word here and a little bit of tricky talk there—we saw today how long that lasted. It did not even last for question time.

We had a Prime Minister today who said he is going to stick with $100,000 university degrees. He said that in question time today. He said, 'We support all of our current policies.' We thought, perhaps, he could have used today to reset on climate change—but no. He did not just defend the weak, pathetic targets that the coalition have come up with, he defended the mechanism that he said—I cannot say it, it is unparliamentary, but the first letter is a B and the last letter is a T. That is what he called Tony Abbott's climate-change policy. He said, 'Any suggestion you can dramatically cut emissions without any cost is to use a favourable term of Mr Abbott's'—moreover, he knows it. It is the fig leaf that he has adopted for his own fig leaf. And it comes to ABC cuts. ABC cuts that the communications minister has been trying to intimate to his supporters: 'We can change it; we can fix it if only you elect me'. No, he has also defended those changes to cuts. But if there are to be savings made across the board, 'The ABC and the SBS should not expect to be exempt,' he said.

Today, in question time, I asked what the Prime Minister said would be the 'obvious question to ask' about marriage equality. If it is the obvious question to ask, I am amazed that he did not have a better response than to say, 'Yes, as late as 11 August this year I was saying a plebiscite was a terrible idea. But now I have had to win over the right-wing of the Liberal Party; suddenly, it is great public policy. Suddenly, I am a true democrat.'

What we have found through question time, today, is that this new Prime Minister is just like the old one. The policies are the same. There is a difference to the style, but the policies are the same. We have found out in one short question time that the new Prime Minister is a hollow man. This new Prime Minister is the man who accused John Howard of being the Prime Minister that broke the nation's heart. But this is the Prime Minister who will break the heart of the progressive end of the Liberal Party.

It is not me saying so, it is Jeff Kennett:

This is a very, very sad day. … This is an individual who always puts self interest first.

So says Jeff Kennett:

You self centered, selfish individual. It has always been about you. … You have … put your own interests above all.

Again, that was Jeff Kennett. But what about Brendan Nelson, a leading light of the left of the Liberal Party? He said that Mr Turnbull has:

… got narcissistic personality disorder. He says the most appalling things and can't understand why people get upset.

Tom Switzer said:

… Turnbull's record as opposition leader three years ago helps explain why ordinary Australians shrug their shoulders with a profound lack of interest. All that he displayed as leader was an ignorance of his party's core beliefs, a detachment from a clear majority of the electorate, and his own arrogance and inexperience.

This new Prime Minister is Tony Abbott 'light'. No change to policy, just a change to the style.

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