Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to say merry Christmas to all the good boys and girls out there in my community and across Australia. It's been a pretty rubbish year, one that we may prefer to forget, but we've stuck together and we've done alright. But not everyone has been a good boy or girl this year.

The Prime Minister has been a very naughty boy this year—telling lies, not doing what he's supposed to do and letting his government swindle taxpayers. The Prime Minister doesn't keep his promises. All the Prime Minister deserves in his Christmas stocking this year is a lump of coal. Actually, this Prime Minister quite likes coal.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I call on the member for Burt to withdraw the accusation of lying, which is unparliamentary.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw. For a while, the character of this Prime Minister has been a bit funny, but now we realise it's beyond a joke. The Prime Minister said that no ineligible projects were funded through sports rorts. The Prime Minister said that all stranded Australians would come home by last Christmas. The Prime Minister said that Australia would be at the front of the queue for vaccines. Let's face it: the Prime Minister is never straight with the Australian people—or other international leaders, for that matter. Just ask his friend Emmanuel. He doesn't think; he knows.

Australians can't believe a word the Prime Minister says. These mistruths seem to come in many shapes and forms. There are misleading statements, evasions, equivocations and out-and-out untruths—in fact, we often see these mumbled during question time. But then there is the naughty boy's speciality—the blame-shifting. When things go well, the Prime Minister is always the first in line to take credit, but when things go poorly—

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Lindsay?

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order: the use of that language to describe the Prime Minister was certainly unparliamentary.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. Will the member please be careful of how he reflects on people's character.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll withdraw. When things go poorly, the Prime Minister is the first to point the finger at somebody else. When he's being called out for his failures, he says anything—'It's not my job,' 'It's a matter for the states,' or 'I don't hold a hose.' Whether it's bushfires, robodebt, aged care or car park rorts, he never shows leadership, just more spin. He is no leader. This Prime Minister does not take responsibility. He always blames others for his failures, and he gets to have a protection racket in the front row on the other side.

The Prime Minister never intended to keep his 2019 promise to introduce a national anticorruption commission. It's now three long years since he promised it, and nothing has happened except endless rorts and more scandals. We need transparency and trust in government. Australians can't afford another three years of the rorts and waste we've seen and the attacks on wages, Medicare and superannuation. We need a better life for working families, more secure Australian jobs and a future made here in Australia, and that's what federal Labor will deliver.