Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think it's true that we've all got our fingers crossed that today is the last sitting day of this parliament and this tired rotten, corrupt Liberal government over there. What we've seen in the last two weeks though is astounding: the chaos; the division; the loss of control by the Prime Minister over his own party and the parliament. Frankly, the Liberals now hate the Liberals—they're fighting; the Nationals hate the Nationals—well, that's nothing new; and the Liberals and the Nationals certainly hate each other. If you can't run your party room and you can't run this parliament, you cannot govern the country.

But the Prime Minister has plumbed new lows, new depths, in his behaviour in question time in the last two weeks. He's desperate. He's a desperate, failing man—he's a total grub. Now that's a funny word, isn't it? You're allowed to say 'grub' in the parliament; that's parliamentary. I couldn't call him a liar here, although I could do that outside the parliament. He's like the guy at 3 am at the end of the night in the pub just desperate for a fight with anyone because he ain't got nothing else going on for him now, has he? His behaviour in question time has been appalling. His entire strategy now, not just for his re-election but for the nation, is to make stuff up about Labor. That's it. That's all this government has left—tell lies: a pattern of mendacity and untruths about Labor.

Their most astounding nonsense is, after three years of failing to introduce a national anticorruption commission—look at them over there—there's no bill in the parliament. Their own MPs are losing patience and crossing the floor. And the Prime Minister's response: 'Oh well, it's all Labor's fault.' It's Labor's fault that this mob have been in power for almost a decade and haven't done their job—and that's somehow our fault. It's pathetic.

Fake fights and lies—that's all the government has left. Lies about the vaccination rollout: 'We're at the front of the queue.' Give me a break: we were last in the developed world. Lies about the economy: wages have gone backwards in last 12 months.

Oh, the member for Chisholm's smiling!

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Bruce will withdraw the comments about using the word 'lie'.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm allowed to say 'lies'; I'm not allowed to call someone a liar, Deputy Speaker Goodenough. That's very clear. But let's, for the sake of the chair, talk about the pattern of untruths, the pattern of mendacity, from the whole mob over there. The member for Chisholm is smiling over there about wages having gone backwards under the Liberals. Well done! You'll get what's coming to you at this election.

There are lies that are weird. About 'Shanghai Sam'—he says he didn't say it; it's on his own Facebook page. His failures are well-known, but what's really clear now is: this government has no agenda left. They can't bring on real legislation for a vote. They've created a fake fight on something that is deadly serious about social media trolls, because they haven't introduced a national anticorruption commission. And they've now cancelled parliament—five days of the Senate between tonight and 7 August; 10 of this House. Absolutely disgraceful. The Prime Minister's a fake, a fraud, and we deserve better in this country. (Time expired)