Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw both the lemmings and the goats bit. Why would they vote against support for people who have cost-of-living issues if they cared about the cost of living? Look at all the other things they've voted against. They are the pin-ups for political cynicism, even voting against their own energy policy. Well done, Angus, if you can vote against your own energy policy! Sure, they had 20 of them, but that was obviously bizarre. And they turned energy into a culture war, making scientists somehow a contested area—questioning the CSIRO. It was bizarre that they would do that. As I said, they've got a free vote every single time.

Let's look at some of the other things that the Labor Party have committed to, including manufacturing industries, which will result in secure, well-paid jobs, which is actually something that is good in a cost-of-living crisis. Secure, well-paid jobs are good for national security and our sovereignty because we're making more things in Australia. How could you vote against that? What about making child care cheaper? That is good in itself, but in terms of boosting productivity we've heard that investing in cheaper child care is the lowest-hanging fruit we have. What about social and affordable housing? I can understand why some extreme hypocrites would vote against it, but why would a party that saw the housing crisis that is being rolled out across the bush, in Bundaberg, in Brisbane, in Booval—everywhere there is a housing crisis—vote against our housing policy? Remember that election campaign where the member for Grayndler held up a dollar coin and said, 'This is what we're trying to give the people of Australia,' and their economic team started frothing at the mouth, saying that it was going to end up with cats and dogs sleeping together and the end of Australian civilisation. Mathias Cormann belled the cat when he said that low wages are a deliberate design strategy when it comes to the coalition. If you're going to keep voting no, you're going to end up in the wilderness forever. Those seats are going to be painted teal for the Liberals—sit down, sunshine; I'm not finished yet!

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