Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Bradfield for that contribution. We sit here today with another example of this out-of-touch Prime Minister saying many things before the election and then, when he wins government, not delivering on those. His actions always speak louder than his words.

The reality is the Australian people are struggling right now. Cost of living is the biggest issue that Australians are facing. We, on this side, know that. Those opposite clearly do not—through their words and their actions. The significant issues are 11 interest rate rises since this Labor government came to power, inflation going through the roof and continuing to stay high, and petrol and power prices being out of control. This Prime Minister's answer to the challenges the Australian people face is to propose 64 days of sitting next year. There are 365 days in a year, and this Prime Minister proposes 64 days, and that's assuming that he doesn't cancel any days next year. As the member for Bradfield rightly pointed out, we were supposed to be sitting next week to address the challenges that the people of Australia are facing, but the Prime Minister decided that without him here—because he doesn't trust the Deputy Prime Minister—the government is not sitting next week. So we've got 64 days next year as a best-case scenario. History says that this Prime Minister will cancel and cut, as the member for Gippsland said. I'm not a big betting man, but, if I were going to bet, I'd be bettering there will be more cuts next year.

The reason is that this Prime Minister not only has the wrong priorities for the Australian people; he has no priorities for the Australian people. He has no agenda and he has no plan to solve the challenges that our community is facing. We see that every day in question time, whether it's a question from the opposition or even a dixer from his own side. He's got three to four talking points that he has repeated for 18 months, and then he goes from his three to four talking points to talk about the opposition. He spends more time in question time talking about the opposition than he does about his plans, what he's delivered and, most importantly, what he can do to help the Australian people who are struggling right now.

It's not that surprising that the Prime Minister talks a lot about the opposition. When you look at his background and his history, you see it's his most natural habitat. It's what this Prime Minister knows. He's been in this parliament for 27 years, so you would think he knows it well, he likes it and he would want to sit for a long time. But in those 27 years he spent two decades—20 years—in opposition, so he knows opposition well. He knows how to criticise the other side. He's an expert in opposition, and the Australian people have worked that out. They have seen that this Prime Minister is an expert in opposition. I will pay attention today, as I always do, to his answers and even the MPI, when those on the government back benches get their talking points, because we all know it's the same talking points that they all deliver. It's quite fun to listen to them. Of every talking point from the back bench in an MPI, coming from the Prime Minister and the Treasury, 90 per cent talk about the opposition. They're an opposition in waiting. It's what they know. It's what they do well.

It's not surprising that this Prime Minister wants to avoid scrutiny; he's not across the detail of any portfolio, of any opposition. We had the farce this week where he was asked by the Shadow Treasurer a question about the economy and he had to get a note passed to him from the Treasurer. He had to get a note passed to him about the economy. It is not that surprising, though, because we all know that he didn't know the cash rate. He didn't know the unemployment rate

But you've got to look not just at what he says, because he says a lot, promises a lot, doesn't deliver it and can't answer the basic questions; this is a prime minister that has not received one briefing from the Treasury secretary, the most senior public servant for the economy, in a cost-of-living crisis. There has been not one briefing from Steven Kennedy, and that was admitted in Senate estimates. But in his time as Prime Minister he has spent at least three days at the Australian Open tennis.

So let's put this into perspective as Australians are struggling. We are in a cost-of-living crisis. The economy is the major issue that we're hearing about from our communities. This Prime Minister has spent more time at the Australian Open tennis than he has getting a briefing from the most senior economics adviser in the Public Service. He is not across the detail and does not want to be across the detail, He wants to enjoy the trappings of the office without the scrutiny. The frustration of this is that it is the Australian people who are struggling. We are now looking at petrol prices well over $2 in my community and in every community across the country.

Now, this Prime Minister, when he was in opposition, was very happy to criticise then Prime Minister Morrison when petrol prices were at $1.79. He was looking for solutions from the Prime Minister at that time. At $1.79, he was happy to criticise the then prime minister. He was happy to criticise the then Prime Minister at $1.79. It's over $2 a litre today and we hear nothing from this Prime Minister—crickets! He has no solutions for the Australian people.

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