Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

We hear a lot of talk about Clive Palmer's wealth—which of course has doubled in the course of this pandemic while workers' wages have stagnated—but it's his value we should talk about more. It's his value that matters, and that is negligible at best. I'd say his contribution to our society has to be regarded as negative.

Unpaid workers would agree, as would any of us who care about the quality or integrity of our politics, having regard to the disinformation and misinformation that he has caused to be spread. All of us who are concerned about public health and the cohesion of our communities during this pandemic of course would agree with that too. This goes for his attack on the work of the McGowan government, which is so determined to keep Western Australians safe, and his relentless, divisive and dangerous anti-vaccination campaigning, including these letters which I have here. These were distributed in my electorate, an electorate which has borne the brunt of COVID in Melbourne's northern suburbs. I say: enough is enough!

Some still seem to regard Mr Palmer as a harmless joke—but he's not. His actions are damaging, and keeping Australians safe is no joke. All of us in this place have the obligation to call out his conduct and to get our vaccination campaign back on track, starting with a public information campaign that counters these lies.

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