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

I can see some very big smiles—and so there should be—on some of the backbenchers opposite, because that was a woeful performance and there will be some opportunities open up the front benches after that terrible performance by the assistant minister. When you get an opportunity to talk about what your government has done in the first 10 months of its operation, you'd think you would spend some time saying with pride what you think the government has done. In that woeful performance he spent about 7½ to eight minutes having a crack at the other side—and some of it was on stuff from 10 years ago. There were some big smiles on some faces on the backbench because that was woeful.

Let's go to the first 10 months of this government's performance, which, as well, has been woeful. I'm going to start with one thing that is quite traumatic; I feel very strongly about this. When the Prime Minister says it's been a pretty good 10 months, it hasn't been a pretty good 10 months in those remote communities where the cashless welfare card has been removed. The cashless welfare card was having some real practical impacts on the ground. I know one of the communities quite well and have been to one of those communities quite a lot as well. Those communities were telling me they did think the cashless welfare card was working, and the stats prove it. Since that cashless welfare card has been removed from some of those remote and regional communities, domestic violence is up, child abuse is up—

A government member: Where's the source!

I take that interjection. I say: talk to the communities. I'm quite shocked about the ideology of those opposite. Their blind ideology means women are getting raped and children are getting bashed that weren't beforehand—

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