Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Note to Senator Macdonald: get out of Parliament House and see the real Canberra. Come with me and see that families are juggling a mortgage, rent, a car loan and bills, just like everywhere else in Australia. Come with me and see that pensioners are trying to make ends meet on a fixed income, just like everywhere else in Australia. Come with me and see that people living with a disability are trying to lead a dignified life, just like everyone else in Australia. Come with me on a Meals on Wheels run. Come with me to the Foodbank at Lanyon, at Tuggeranong, and at Reid. Come with me to a breakfast club at a primary school or a high school in my electorate. Come with me to southeast Tuggeranong, where Canberrans are battling with internet speeds below one megabit per second—kids who cannot do their homework or their tests and small business people who have to operate out of cafes. Then you will know that your Senate estimates comments are complete and utter rubbish—headline-seeking, Canberra and public-service bashing, complete and utter rubbish. Those comments only underscore yet again the complete and utter disdain that Liberals and Nationals have for Canberra and for the public service—servants of democracy who take pride in their work, who take pride in serving our nation, in the regions, in remote Australia, in Darwin. They take pride in the fact that they want to make a difference—(Time expired)

See this speech in context