Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They know how much trust they can place in the Leader of the Opposition. But it's always been that way with him. What about the workers of CleanEvent when the Leader of the Opposition stripped away their pay and conditions while the AWU received secret payments of $75,000 for those arrangements? What about the workers at Chiquita Mushrooms when the Leader of the Opposition sold them out in return for secret $4,000-a-month training payments to his union? They quickly found out how much credibility he had as an advocate for the working people. And who could forget Labor's 'Mediscare' campaign in the 2016 election?

Even his own colleagues can't trust him. Former Prime Minister Rudd learned that the hard way. No doubt he trusted his then employment minister when that minister pretended to be a loyal cabinet colleague. As Mr Rudd soon discovered, trust in this Leader of the Opposition is often misplaced. No doubt the woman who replaced him, former Prime Minister Gillard, trusted the now Leader of the Opposition when he threw his support behind her. We all know how long that lasted. 'Up until the spill,' he told reporters, 'I was going to support the Prime Minister.' There you have it. The Leader of the Opposition was 'going to be loyal'. He was 'going to tell the truth', right up until the moment his self-interest changed his mind.

The workers he claims to represent, the people of Australia, his own closest colleagues—they all know that this Leader of the Opposition will do anything, say anything and doublecross anyone to claw his way to the top.

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