Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They don't have that position where they can get money from mum and dad, or this one or that one. They have no alternative but to go to a payday lender. What a terrible situation to be in! What a shocking situation to be in! I've never been there, but, like all of us, I know somebody who has, and I know the background of the situation, and it ain't good. There are a few things that go on in people's lives, as you in this place know, that lead them into a position where they have no alternative—no alternative whatsoever. What a place to be in, where you've got no alternative whatsoever.

I'm not a friend of people who rip off the system. But, in that whole process of listening to the arguments, I heard about the decent provider of rental products, and I heard about the crook who sat outside the chemist signing people up. I didn't even know about this issue until it became an issue within the federal parliament—until constituents came to me in support of a rental provider. I thought he was pretty good—and my constituents all backed him up—until I came here and listened to other members of parliament, from both sides of the House, who gave me a different point of view. So then I had to weigh up: who's telling the truth, what are the real circumstances of this, and what can government do about it? And the arguments I've heard today haven't got us anywhere, because you were right, Milton, and Jason was right too.

My commercial principles and practice teacher, Jack Kroger, whom I loved—and whose son Michael has some quite well-known traits—used to stand up and say, 'Let the buyer beware—caveat emptor.' There is a responsibility on the buyer. We must not, if we respect those people, take that responsibility from them. We should never take that responsibility from them. Who do you think we are to tell people how to run their lives?

If we can implement laws and actions that can ameliorate this, as to the opportunity for crooks to survive, then, fine; let's do it; let's find a way through it. But let's not come into the room like this, with black and white opinions of, 'You're all wrong,' and, 'You're all right,' because none of us are all right and none of us are all wrong. We are reasonable people in this parliament, trying to find our way through difficult issues. So I plead with everybody in this place: let's find a way through difficult issues.

I think there are lots of other things I'd like to be talking about today. I would like to be talking about something exciting, like putting more money and effort and opportunity into IVF in this country and helping a lot more people to have miraculous changes to their lives. I would like to think we were talking about positive things that will make a difference to the country. If we can make a difference to these people, well, then, good—but let's not have an argument in this place about personalities or about principles that are right and wrong, because we know there is a middle ground to find. How often in this place do we never seek to find the middle ground but rather criticise somebody else for their position?

See this speech in context