Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I point out for the member for Wright that the spending on defence was actually the same as what it was under Howard. So what you are actually saying is the Howard government was the worst on record. Just to clarify, there seems to be a misconception around. When they leak their talking points every day, they go out there and they read them and they think that, if they say it for long enough, it is true. We have seen that with this government. Each and every day we have seen a change.

We can see the Prime Minister in his bright yellow tie over there. He has been very agile. Everything he said he stood for he has backflipped on immediately. He stood for marriage equality, he stood for climate change and he stood for the republic and he backed away. Now, today, we find out that the man who was going to have the big economic platform, the man who was going to bring through change after knifing Tony Abbott, has backed away from his tax reform agenda.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for McEwen will refer to members by their correct titles.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The former Prime Minister, the now member for Warringah, with the knife in the back. They have backed away from the economic platform and they are backing away from tax cuts. The one thing that has been consistent with the gelatinous Prime Minister is the fact that he will back away every time. As soon as there is a headline on, bang, the eyes light up and he backs away and hides back in the corner. But he has some company back there because this week they have backed away from their Treasurer. The poor Treasurer has been put in witness protection and is in hiding. The poor bloke. Fair dinkum, his age is higher than his IQ and he cannot count that high. It is a government that is non-stop backing away because they have no plans— (Time expired)