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

The one consistency we can talk about with the government is that truth is never at the forefront of their thinking. Each and every day we come in here and we hear mendacious claims by ministers and backbenchers about things that are just factually not correct. Today, we have heard it again, about defence. We supposedly cut defence spending to its lowest level in history. It is just not true. The Howard government did that. What we do know is that, when the government talk about spending money, all they do is spend money. They don't deliver anything. We know that from French Prime Minister Macron, who knows that he was lied to about the submarines. It has cost us $4 billion and there is not one submarine. Every day in here we have had to listen to those opposite saying, 'We're building ships.' You've built nothing on that side. It's all nothing. It's empty promises. That's why this government has been in the second-highest taxing government in history. So, if you want to talk about history, I say to the former Deputy Prime Minister, 'You were Deputy Prime Minister in the second-highest taxing government in history.' There was only one higher, and that was old mate Johnny, Johnny Howard. Remember him—the one that sent us to a war on a lie? Why? Because it's consistent with what we hear from the other side.

We see millions and millions of dollars being channelled into their mates at the expense of Australian families. We can't get a RAT. We've got a company here in Australia that makes them every single day of the week, and the hapless little minister over there quaintly just doesn't do a thing, doesn't go and say, 'Let's get Australian made product.' We hear all this garbage, 'We've got to have sovereign building,' and all this. They wrap themselves in a flag, put on this faux patriotism, but, at the end of the day, they deliver nothing. When RATs are being made in this country and exported overseas and people in aged-care facilities can't get them, something is wrong. That something is a government that puts itself before the Australian people.

We now have a trillion dollars worth of debt. That is a figure that was never, ever going to be thought of. But they sit there proudly and say, 'Look what we've done.' We hear a misinformation campaign each and every day. Whatever happened to 'back in black'? Remember, they promised, 'We're back in black next year'? They promised here, in this place, they would deliver a budget surplus each and every year in government. Well, you have been in government eight years, and what have you delivered? Highest debt, highest deficit and money going over to your mates at the expense of Australian families. Why do people in aged care have to suffer? Why is it that every promise that the government make they break? We know why they don't want a national integrity commission. Let's face it, there would probably be no-one on the front bench. They would all be tucked away because of what's been happening. We see money going out each and every day and no accountability.

At the last election, the government promised all this money for busting congestion. Where did that get to? Nowhere. Every single promise they have made, they have broken. Australians know that, when the Prime Minister puts his hand out and forces them to shake his hand, they should count their fingers. You never know what's going to happen with the government, except for one thing—they consistently don't be honest with the Australian people. They break their promises. They have spent money. They have put our kids and grandkids into debt, higher than ever before. The highest taxing governments have both been on the conservative side. The second-highest one has members serving in this government. Yet they come in here and make these false claims: 'Oh, Labor is going to spend all this money.' The truth is in the pudding. Have a look at what they say and what they do. What we find out is that this government couldn't deliver a pizza, let alone a budget surplus or look at after aged care. We sit here every day and hear about how people are suffering in aged care. Not one of them over there has said, 'Gee whiz, we're sorry we made that mistake, we're sorry we misled people, we're sorry we didn't get RATs, we're sorry didn't do the work, and we're sorry we didn't give people in aged care PPE.' The minister would rather spend more time at the cricket than go and see people in aged-care facilities, and that is a national disgrace.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Again, we hear the colourful language and the huff and puff from the member for Bruce and other members on the other side. We hear giggling and laughter from the Labor Party on this important topic here today. We hear slurs of former prime ministers of this great country. We hear spin and we hear insults. That's we hear from them. We don't hear about a plan. There's no alternative plan on the other side of the House to tell Australians how you run our great nation. Why is that? Australians have the right to ask you that question. It's because you don't have one. You don't have the experience that it takes to run this country in a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic.

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

The member for Moncrieff will pause for the moment. Is the member for Shortland making a point of order?

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. The member's reflecting on 'you'. I ask that she direct her comments through the chair. She's saying 'you' don't have a plan.

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

Thanks to the member for Shortland. Continue on.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. I appreciate that input. So I say to the Australian people: the Labor Party doesn't have a plan. Thank you for clarifying that. I think it's very, very important, because I want to highlight to Australians and compare in contrast what the Morrison government has done to support Australians during a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic. As a nation, we haven't been under this much pressure since World War II. Australians know that. Being elected by the Australian people to steward our way through this pandemic is an absolute privilege. It's a privilege. It's a bastion of trust, and it's posed many difficult positions and decisions to keep Australians safe and to keep Australians in jobs. They're called key performance indicators. That's what the Australian people should judge this government on, not spin and slur and unparliamentary language and stage-managed appearances to demean the Prime Minister's character. I would urge Australians not to listen to those opposite, not to listen to their hate speech and not to listen to their hypocrisy. If you vote Labor once—

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order. The speaker has reflected on members of the opposition by arguing that we engage in hate speech. That is most unparliamentary.

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

The member will resume his seat. The member for Moncrieff will continue on.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I tell the Australian people that, if they vote once for Labor, they will pay for it for the next 10 years. That is fact. At the federal election that we're facing in May, they'll pay for it for longer. I want to ask Australians not to be fooled by those opposite. Don't be fooled by their bluff, their huff and puff, their flip-flop from one side to the other. They don't have the experience required to make the incredibly difficult decisions that our Prime Minister and cabinet make every single day for the good of our nation.

I'm going to outline some of those thousands of decisions that I'm talking about that our cabinet and our Prime Minister are making for both sides of the political divide, for all Australians, not to appease one group over another—thousands of decisions every day. We've delivered a AAA credit rating for Australia, for our nation. Can a member from the other side tell me another nation that's done that? We've had $30 billion in tax cuts and unemployment at record lows of 4.2 per cent, heading towards something with a three in front of it. When did the Labor Party last see that number? When was it? It was so long ago I can't remember it, and I'm heading towards 53.

There are 1.7 million more jobs. Youth unemployment is at less than 10 per cent—the lowest since 2008. One million more women are in jobs. These are the key performance indicators that I'm asking Australians to judge our government and our Prime Minister on. I'm asking Australians not to get distracted by the personal attacks on our Prime Minister's character that we've seen this week. There are 220,000 trade apprentices in training. We have affordable, reliable electricity. We have lower emissions. Those opposite, let's remember, rely on the Greens to form government. (Time expired)

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm glad to be able to rise and talk on this MPI today. I do so not out of partisanship but out of a deep sense that people in my electorate have been left behind by this government. I ask you to consider whether, over the last three years of the Morrison government or the last near-decade of the coalition government, your life has become better.

I put a Facebook post up yesterday asking people in my community what the biggest issues were for them. Maybe I should've expected it, but I was shocked by the number of my constituents that engaged with me, begging me to raise their issues. Literally hundreds and hundreds of comments came flooding in. Most of the concerns were not a surprise to me. In the 18 months since I was elected I've travelled over 80,000 kilometres in my car visiting towns and villages across Eden-Monaro. Everywhere I go—every town, every village, every cafe and even the supermarket when I'm in there—people stop and ask what we can do to get this government to act. There is a feeling among people that they are being abandoned at worst or ignored at best. People look to government for leadership, for assistance, to know that they have the backs of average Australians. Instead of deferring and deflecting, it's time to get on with it because there are big issues facing our communities and our nation.

We spent almost all of yesterday, last night and the early hours of this morning debating the Morrison government's flawed Religious Discrimination Bill. My colleagues and I fought tooth and nail to make sure that vulnerable children were adequately protected. But the questions my constituents ask are: Why was the government more focused on this obviously flawed bill than on a federal integrity commission? Why is Scott Morrison prioritising this bill over dealing with the housing crisis, when people across the country are being forced out of rentals, facing homelessness and can't afford a roof over their heads? Why isn't this government fixing the mess that is aged care? A royal commission report titled Neglect took two years and cost $104 million, and not a single recommendation has been implemented. The most vulnerable people in our community, our parents and grandparents, are suffering pain and indignity for one reason: this government led by this Prime Minister won't do its job. It would rather create a distraction than address the issues.

In April last year, the government announced a $280 million funding round under the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program. Community groups, organisations and councils were encouraged to apply. The initial timeline indicated they'd have an answer to that application in November or December. Lo and behold, we're in February with no outcomes. Communities are left in the dark about whether those projects will even proceed, and this looks like it's timed to coincide with an election campaign. Whilst this government continues to delay this funding, bushfire survivors and affected communities are the ones that miss out.

You won't hear of that. You'll be told that there's plenty of money that has gone to bushfire affected communities. But the lived experience on the ground is very, very different. The Prime Minister should've done more than show up for a photo-op. He should've listened to those people directly impacted on the ground in bushfire areas, and he shouldn't have walked away from an opportunity to hear from the people affected about what they needed most from this government.

So let me tell you what those in Eden-Monaro are asking for. They want better support for bushfire survivors. They want money spent on mitigation and resilience measures so we are better prepared for our next natural disaster. They want affordable housing and more public housing across the region. They want a federal integrity commission. They want better staff ratios in aged care and better conditions for older Australians. They want the government to deal with issues like staffing and skills shortages that are ravaging our businesses. They want a future made in Australia, where manufacturing is brought back onshore and we become a more self-reliant nation. More than anything, they want a Prime Minister and a government that will just do its job. I think it's time that people got what they asked for.

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

By whichever metrics we use, it is evident that the Morrison government has a track record of delivery for Australians in key areas over the past three years. For instance, on the important measure of employment, the Australian economy has created 1.1 million jobs since the pandemic hit, with 700,000 jobs saved through JobKeeper. The unemployment rate is currently the lowest recorded in 40 years, at 4.2 per cent. The Morrison government has introduced a series of legislated tax cuts, with 11.5 million Australians benefiting from tax relief. Soon 90 per cent of taxpayers will be paying a marginal tax rate of more than 30 per cent. In terms of pandemic preparedness, more than 93 per cent of Australians have been protected with vaccines under our National Immunisation Program.

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

The time for the discussion has concluded.