Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the hallmarks of the Morrison-Joyce government is the avoidance of responsibility and accountability. Throughout this pandemic we've seen countless instances of the Prime Minister shifting blame, passing the buck and refusing to admit or acknowledge any problem this government faces or has caused.

The government failed to introduce a national quarantine system where we would have been able to efficiently control overseas cases of COVID and prevent the virus from escaping into our communities. If we'd had quarantine, Australians would not still be stuck overseas missing their loved ones, and three major cities would not be in lockdown.

We've had the failed vaccine rollout. Especially in my community, older people and essential workers have found it almost impossible to get vaccinated, and for many days last week the Macquarie Fields vaccination hub saw lines of over two hours in the cold. The government was asked by the opposition last year on multiple occasions to secure more than two deals for vaccinations. It is appalling that they outright refused a deal like the one Pfizer had on the table in July 2020. The Prime Minister, it seems, did not make a call to the Pfizer CEO until he was shown how to actually do his job by a former PM. He does, however, make a concerted effort to get on the phone when he's sorting out a job at the OECD. Failures have consequences, and the recent lockdowns across the country are the fruits of this government's negligence. But the incompetence and inaction doesn't just stop with the current lockdowns.

In 2019, Labor went to the election promising measures and funding based on expert advice to improve the environment. Policies included emission reduction targets, $200 million for a native species protection fund, $200 million for Indigenous rangers to manage the land and $80 million to establish the national aerial bushfire fighting fleet of aircraft. All of these would have substantially mitigated the devastation of the bushfire crisis. Yet, the Prime Minister decided no action and more holiday was the preferred course of action.

It's clear under this government the nation is simply not prepared for climate change and the more severe fires, floods and cyclones that it will bring. We need to invest in disaster mitigation and clean energy, and we need to do it now. But this government provides safe haven for climate deniers who publicly undermine climate change on social media, in the papers and on the floor of both this House and the other place.

This government also has a shameful record when it comes to preying on the disadvantaged. The NDIS has been hit with successive cuts and has been undermined and mismanaged by the government at every turn. My constituents, disability groups, and state and territory ministers have continually expressed their disappointment with cuts to the NDIS. The $4.6 billion underspend in 2019 and consistent undermining with the discussion of compulsory independent assessments have left the sector with little confidence.

Then there's robodebt. The government announced in 2020 they would refund all the money illegally obtained under the scheme. It was a scheme, however, that they knew was illegal. It was a scheme that unfairly targeted vulnerable Australians for over four years.

Then we come to the NBN rollout. I still have complaints from constituents who are not yet connected to the NBN or who have poor service. Residents of Long Point who were promised connections two years ago still don't have them, and they have to rely on expensive wi-fi. They don't even have mobile reception. Clearly, this government has form when it comes to failed rollouts. This is a direct result of poor Liberal government planning and out-of-touch policies that will leave Australia in the backwater of internet speeds for years to come.

Last, there is the great legacy of this government, the rorts—the sports rort, the JobKeeper rort, the car park rorts and the Leppington Triangle land deal. I'm not sure there is a program that has not been used seemingly for political advantage. The Prime Minister said he'd create a national integrity commission over 900 days ago. To date, all we have is a proposal from the Prime Minister for a secretive and toothless integrity commission. Corruption, abuse of public money and dodgy deals cannot be tolerated, and neither can incompetence, hiding in a crisis, failure to plan, cruelty to our most vulnerable and wholesale rorting. Australians and my community expect better of their government.