Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

And just because you repeat a falsehood does not make it true. Australians, whether they work in aged care, manufacturing or agriculture, are entitled to aspire to do whatever they want to do. They're entitled to aspire to better-paid jobs, to different jobs and to promotions. They're entitled to aspire, to dream. Our job as the government and, I would say, the parliament is to do everything we can to enable them to realise those aspirations.

But the Labor Party stands in the way of those aspirations. They particularly want those workers who are getting on a bit in years—yes, those 60-year-olds—to stay put. They've got to stay put, don't they? They can't aspire to anything! The patronising smugness, the slimy insinuation, about older Australians is sickening. It embarrasses the men and women who were the leaders of the Labor Party in years gone by. We don't have to doubt what Paul Keating said about Labor failing because of not being able to connect with aspirational Australians. The reason is those smug big-government salaries. The Labor Party is mystified by the way millions of Australians want to get ahead. They want to keep them in their place.

See this speech in context