Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I'm getting up to give some friendly advice to the new government. There has been a lot of hubris on the other side of the chamber since the election, but I just want to look at some statistics about the new government. Firstly, given they have a two-seat majority, they are in the weakest position for an incoming government from opposition since 1913. And with a 32 per cent primary vote, they have the lowest for an incoming government from opposition since 1903. So let's just put that into perspective: the public certainly weren't in love with them when they voted them in.

Their first hundred days: what have we seen from this government in their first hundred days? What we've seen is that they're paying the piper. They're paying the master. As we know, the unions control the factions. We know that the unions control the preselections of the Labor Party and we know that the unions fund the Labor Party. So the unions control the new government—it makes sense. What actions have demonstrated this? What actions from the new government have demonstrated this?

One of the first pieces of legislation they had was to abolish the ABCC. It was the first thing they had to do. There was the jobs summit as well. The jobs summit wasn't a love-in, it was a union gathering: 14 per cent of the population are represented by unions but they certainly had a bigger representation than that at the jobs summit. So I say to the other side: be brave! Break the shackles from the union movement! (Time expired)

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