Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Coming from a classroom to parliament wasn't much of a change for me as sitting in this House is often like sitting in a year 9 English class. There are some similar characters. Obviously, the cool kids sit up the back. There are the kids who came up with few friends—and they sit with the other kids on the crossbench. And then we've got the kids who think they're cool—g'day to the Nats and their Akubras in the corner! There's the kid who does the bare minimum; he blame-shifts and thinks that, the louder he yells, the more his point comes across; but really he just annoys everyone. He sits at the dispatch box—he's the Prime Minister! As it happens he is also the kid who went on an overseas holiday during a critical assignment—just to get the cheap flights! And then there's the one kid who would probably gloat on the Monday 'Miss, I've already done the project; it's all good, Miss' and then on Friday, despite all the big promises, fails to deliver and we get all the childish excuses—'Miss, my homework got burnt in the bushfires', 'Miss, my homework's got coronavirus'. He'd be the Treasurer! To the Treasurer: growth is down, wages are flat, underemployment is at a record high and net debt has doubled. And now your surplus that never was looks gone. Your report card reads 'must do better'. Promise less, Treasurer, and deliver more.