Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I'm delighted to support the Leader of the Opposition in this suspension of standing and sessional orders. In so doing, I condemn this Prime Minister for his divisive and incompetently managed referendum. I condemn this Prime Minister for refusing to hold a constitutional convention, making no effort whatsoever to achieve bipartisanship, wasting $450 million of taxpayer money and proceeding with his personal vanity project when it was so, so clear that it was going to go disastrously wrong. This is the referendum that Australia did not need to have.

The Prime Minister's incompetence has split Australia right down the middle, and still he refuses to apologise. I listened carefully on Saturday night. I heard a reluctant acknowledgement of taking responsibility and then an immediate blame-shift because that's what this Prime Minister does. He doesn't understand that, when you are at the top of the country, you get to take responsibility. Instead of accepting blame, his response was a bit like, 'Oh well, we tried.' He made this outrageous claim that this was an election promise and therefore it was delivered. It was a rare moment, actually, when the facade cracked and we finally saw the Prime Minister admit that this was always about the electoral politics. Today he kept a straight face and he bemoaned the fact that referendums don't succeed without bipartisan support. But Prime Minister, in the Liberal and National parties, we decided more than six months ago that we wouldn't give this referendum bipartisan support.

The Prime Minister's a well-known political hack. He's a student of political history. He knew that we would not support this referendum, but he chose to proceed anyway. It's just not good enough from our nation's leader. As I've said for months, if I were an advocate of the 'yes' campaign, I would be so disappointed with this Prime Minister. I would be so disappointed in how he handled this referendum and made his case because Australians across this country have been confronted with an arrogant prime minister whose first words as national leader were to write a cheque he should have known he was never in a position to cash.

His first pledge on election night was to enact in full a proposition which was completely unfamiliar to the Australian people. It was a commitment he made with a mandate that was manufactured from a technicality but not transparency. It was a promise he made to our First Australians that he could never keep. In the 18 months since, time and again the Prime Minister has arrogantly placed ideology over practicality. He tried to wedge his political opponents for electoral benefit, but what did we see this Prime Minister do? He took a 65 per cent majority for yes to an almost 65 per cent majority for no, directly because of his decisions. He ignored all warnings. He failed to course-correct. He made it clear that it was his way or the highway, and he forced Australians to choose the highway. He's taken us to a moment of national disunity, and it's hurt our country.

Indigenous Australians and many people across the community have walked a long way in this process. I want to acknowledge those many people who have invested a great deal in good faith to this effort. But, in putting his own political legacy before a long walk of reconciliation, the Prime Minister sprinted ahead and left Australians behind. It's a familiar theme. He charges ahead on this, and he leaves Australians behind. He's left Australians behind every single day since he became Prime Minister. The Australian people have responded clearly in rejecting this divisive approach. Now the Prime Minister should apologise. He should apologise for how he has mishandled this process.

This suspension motion is not just about condemning the Prime Minister, important though that is. It's about a better way as proposed by the Leader of the Opposition. It's about practical things that we can get on with right here and right now: a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities—how can this Prime Minister today arrogantly dismiss that suggestion with a jeer and a sneer that we're all so familiar with in this place?—and a careful audit of the expenditure on Indigenous programs, the money that comes from government and goes out into the community. Every taxpayer deserves the best value for their dollar, but, most importantly, every Indigenous Australian deserves the best value for their dollar.

We have never ever stepped back from what we have always said in Indigenous Australians policy: we will support practical policy ideas that improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, that help close the gap and that allow us to come together and forge a better path forward to deliver a better future for this country, because Australians should be proud of our country. We're fair minded, good hearted, compassionate people, and we care. We care about the future of this country and the future of our Indigenous communities. It was outrageous that we did not go ahead with this suspension earlier and debate this important issue for the Australian people. Shame on the Prime Minister!

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