Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

You need to read the letter. The fact of the matter is that the question as to whether it broke the law was significant enough in the minds of the New South Wales Police that they established Strike Force Garrad to investigate it. And what does this Prime Minister do in that moment? He rings a person who he describes as one of his best friends, the New South Wales Police Commissioner, to talk to him about it. Can you think of a less appropriate action for an Australian Prime Minister to take?

The former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said it would have been much better had that call not been made. David Ipp, the former anti-corruption commissioner, said an ordinary citizen would not be able to get that information from the police. So what is it about the Prime Minister that entitles him to that information?

But what do we hear from the Prime Minister when it's all put to him? What we get is double-down. He comes in here and he says:

As I told the House four times yesterday, I was going to talk to the New South Wales police, I don't know who they thought I was going to call. Did they think I was going to call the parking infringements officer at the Sutherland police station? Maybe I was going to call the water police, or the dog squad …

This is a Prime Minister who makes light of the most serious matters. When it comes to the question of climate change all we hear from this Prime Minister are matters which are simply not true. Here's the fact: during the Rudd and Gillard government, emissions fell by 15 per cent; since this government's been in place, emissions have been going in the wrong direction. The Prime Minister says that they are on track to meet Kyoto—they are not. The Prime Minister says that they will meet the Paris targets. It's business as usual at the moment—they will not.

And then we get to the question of this most tragic of summers and the performance of this Prime Minister. Never forget 4 January 2020. On that day, the temperature in Penrith hit 48.9 degrees. On that day, the entire South Coast of New South Wales was being ordered to evacuate, as it was under threat. One-hundred and fifty fires burned across New South Wales, 80 of them out of control and 12 at emergency level because of ferocious strong winds. Batemans Bay residents were stuck because of the threat that they were under. The New South Wales Premier, describing the situation as very volatile, said, 'It's not safe to move, it is not safe to leave these areas.' The New South Wales RFS Commissioner said, 'The focus becomes saving lives and saving property as much as we can.' This was rated as one of the most catastrophic days of the entire bushfire season, and on that day, of all days, what did this Prime Minister do? He cut a party political ad. He cut a party political ad which referred to the Australian Defence Force and which had images of the Australian Army, and at the end of it, there was a button where you could donate to the Liberal Party of Australia. Let me say this: the honour and sacrifice of the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force do not belong to Scott Morrison or the Liberal Party. They belong to this nation. And the idea that he would go out there and seek to politicise that on that day is one of the single most astounding acts I've seen since I've been in politics. Indeed, Piers Morgan, the conservative commentator for ITV in the UK said:

Wow. A self-promotional commercial with cheesy elevator music? This is one of the most tone-deaf things I've ever seen a country's leader put out during a crisis. Shameless & shameful.

That was Piers Morgan.

The fact of the matter is this: character is not defined by the good days. Every one of us enjoys the experience of success. But character is all about the bad days; it is defined by the bad days. In a crisis—in this case, in a national crisis—character and what occurs on that day opens a door and a light shines on what is laid bare within. And the truth is that over the last few months, what we have seen in the face of adversity is the incredible character of ordinary Australians. The Victorian Country Fire Authority reported just yesterday that it's received 5,400 inquiries in the last few weeks about becoming a volunteer. We've seen drop-in centres overwhelmed. We've seen charities flooded with money. We've seen kids wanting to donate their own pocket money and this country has been flooded with goodwill from around the world. In the last few months, in respect of ordinary Australians, we've seen them shine in sacrifice and service. But that character has stopped short at the door of this Prime Minister. Because this is a Prime Minister who has completely failed to show leadership in this country. There has been no empathy or support for the Australian people from this Prime Minister. This is a Prime Minister who dodges responsibility at every opportunity.

And rather than going out there and standing with ordinary Australians, being about them, he is all about doing whatever he can to stay in that chair inside this building. This Prime Minister is not a man of the people. This is a Prime Minister who is 100 per cent entirely focused on himself.

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