Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What Australians want more than anything else from their political representatives is honesty and integrity. But many Australians believe those qualities can sometimes be lacking in this place. For example, too often in this place we see politicians saying one thing and doing another; politicians expressing concern about an issue but, when it comes to the crunch, being unwilling to follow through with the courage of their convictions.

Take, for example, the current debate about cuts to single-parent payments: 100,000 single parents shifted from parenting payments to Newstart. As a result, the poorest families in Australia, 87 per cent of whom are headed by women, will get a cut of $60 a week. Labor backbenchers along with the Greens have been expressing alarm about this attack on the poorest Australians. We successfully sought a Senate inquiry, which criticised the legislation and called for a delay. There has been much hand wringing in the Labor caucus but when it came to a vote they went AWOL. When it came to a vote, these same Labor backbenchers filed into parliament and joined with Tony Abbott to vote the legislation through. We see this time and time again. The Labor government adopts one of Tony Abbott's policies and then there is much hand wringing from some Labor backbenchers, excited media stories about a caucus revolt and then, not long after, a vote is taken and the backbenchers meekly vote for the policy.

Time and time and time again we have seen Labor backbenchers lining up to pay lip-service to progressive policy. Time and time and time again they have been prepared to junk those same views when it comes to a vote. We have seen it with disability support pensions. We have seen it with Newstart. We have seen it with refugees: yesterday I moved to put a 12-month time limit on mandatory detention, something any reasonable person should support. This week we have also seen it on single parents.

I want to put other members of this place on notice that this hypocrisy does not go unnoticed. Many people across the country are increasingly aware of the hypocrisy of many on the Labor backbench, and we are going to ensure that more people are aware. I want to put all members of this place on notice that starting this week we will be issuing 'hypocrisy alerts'. A hypocrisy alert will highlight when MPs say one thing but do another. When MPs wring their hands but then vote another way with their feet, a hypocrisy alert will come out. When there is a caucus revolt which comes to naught, we will issue a hypocrisy alert, so that everyone knows what has been said and how people actually voted.

I hope we will not have to issue any hypocrisy alerts in the coming months. I hope politicians in this place will have the courage to stand up and be counted and vote based on their principles, not the way they are told by factional bosses. But based on past form I think that is unlikely. So, if we have to issue a flurry of hypocrisy alerts, we will. Next time we hear crocodile tears from the Labor backbench, I hope people will take note of what happens when there is a vote.