Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What an extraordinary performance from the missing-in-action minister who is not even competent enough to sit at the dispatch box, where he's meant to be. What an absolutely extraordinary performance!

I'm proud to speak on today's MPI on the economic failures of this government. Can there be any bigger economic failure of a government than to get into bed with One Nation, one of the worst political parties in this country's history; a party that markets itself to the blue-collar worker but sells itself to the banks? That's what One Nation was prepared to do in bed with this government. This government entered a secret deal with One Nation that it refuses to tell this parliament about. What an absolute abject failure. I see the minister is leaving the House. He's made sure he's got his back-up team this time. Off you go, Minister. After last year's display, you'd think this government would have learned. Two ministers didn't turn up—they were on a plane back to Perth, the Minister for Human Services and the Attorney-General—and then we had Minister O'Dwyer, up or down. What an incompetent government on every level.

We hear ad nauseam from the Treasurer and others opposite about their supposedly superior fiscal skills. That's a bit like listening to a WWF wrestler: lumpy and loud. But, at the end of the day, this Treasurer is all bluster and wind. He's not in pink and grey today. The pink and grey galah is not in his pink and grey today, but he's still squawking down there.

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