Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Facts matter. The truth matters. This is what we teach students at school. We look around this chamber today, and we have students who've been watching question time and students who are here watching us. What do we teach students at school about how they should prosecute an argument? We teach them to stand up for what they believe in and to make their argument forcefully, but to make it based on facts. We teach students at school that you should politely but firmly address your opponent based on facts. You shouldn't bully them and you shouldn't resort to personal insults. We teach them that if the facts don't support your argument, just admit it. If you get something wrong, admit it. We don't teach children in our schools that we don't let the facts get in the way of a good argument unless, maybe, they're studying advertising, because that seems to be the place where facts don't matter. Sadly, the other place where facts don't seem to matter at the moment is the government benches.

If we want our children to live up to what we teach them, then this place needs to demonstrate what we're teaching them. It's not what they're getting from this government. The Prime Minister likes to claim that emissions per person and the emissions intensity of the economy are at their lowest levels in 29 years. But he has failed to mention that emissions across the economy are, in fact, rising and have risen every year since the government abolished the carbon price. He said emissions in the electricity sector have fallen, but he failed to mention that emissions in other sectors of the economy are rising—for example, in transport. But don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Mr Morrison, the Prime Minister, has claimed that the media was misrepresenting Australia's climate change record; it's not his fault! Negative media coverage has fuelled criticism of him; it's completely false and completely misleading! People are expressing prejudiced views about Australia's climate policy. The Prime Minister said:

Where do they get their information from? Who knows, maybe they read it.

Maybe they did read it. Maybe they read it in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Maybe they read the record of what this government hasn't done on climate change. Maybe they looked at the facts and they came to the conclusion that this government has no real plan to reach the Paris targets, and that we are not going to get there. Maybe the young people of Australia are doing what they're taught at school; they're looking up the facts based on research and they're arguing for a better future. The young people are not going to sit back and accept what they are being fed in this parliament by the government and by the Prime Minister. Of course they're anxious about the future. They're not just anxious because the facts tell them that we are facing a climate emergency. They're anxious because they've got a government and a Prime Minister that basically tell them they should just go back to school and not worry about the future, and they've got a government that's not acting. But don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Australians deserve better from their government. They deserve better than spin, obfuscation and avoidance. They deserve a government that acknowledges the challenges we are facing now and into the future, and that's willing to engage in a real conversation and a debate about finding the answers, not just yelling at people from across the chamber. But they're not getting that.

In question time yesterday, I asked the Prime Minister whether the record low wages growth we have experienced under the six years of the Liberal government is a contributing factor to record household debt. How can we address the problems unless we first acknowledge the facts and where they've come from? Did I get an answer that made any sense and addressed the facts? Read the Hansard; you'll find out for yourself.

The facts are clear: economic growth is at its lowest since the GFC. Household median income is lower than it was in 2013. We have the worst wages growth on record, household debt at record lows, business investment at its lowest since the 1990s recession and declining productivity. Net debt has more than doubled. What do we hear from the other side of the chamber? 'Don't talk down the economy.' Actually look at the facts, come up with a plan and do something for the future of the country.

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