Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

When given an opportunity to act, to vote for reductions in energy power bills, they voted against it. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition has confirmed recently that they would rewind—repeal—these cuts. That's their position.

Shielding Australian families and businesses from the worst of the energy price hikes being experienced in Australia and around the world at the moment is an important challenge for this parliament. We know that any increase in energy prices is difficult for families and for businesses, families and businesses that may well be listening to this debate. But we also know that Australians want their elected representatives to take real action on these challenges. Instead, all we see from those opposite is political theatre and obstructionism.

At the end of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, you had the sense that the LNP jalopy had become completely clapped out. The wheels had fallen off. The axle had ground to a halt on the ground. They had no forward momentum. Well, I will give those opposite credit for one thing: they've certainly got the show back on the road. The only problem is that the new jalopy only has one gear: reverse. It's deja vu all over again. They want to take Australians back.

Watching those opposite, it's clear that they've learnt nothing from the last 10 years. They've learnt nothing from the last election result. They've learnt nothing from the Aston by-election result. If you picked up the Notice Paper, if you watched the questions in question time from those opposite, you could easily imagine that you'd been transported back to 2010. At the moment, the Leader of the Opposition is doing a pretty good impression of Tony Abbott without the speedos. It's ugly stuff—aggressive, negative, destructive politics, wrecking instead of building, with shouting and snarling. We see it every day. In fact, that's another flashback to the 2010 period that we see in this building: the targeting of Labor women in question time and the chorus of those opposite every time a capable, confident woman on the front bench gets to speak. It's just an instinctive reaction from those opposite to get stuck in. The Leader of the Opposition might have a bit more time on his hands to practise his smiles, as he promised the Australian people, if he took the dog whistles out of his mouth and actually tried to engage.

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