Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise on this matter of taking note of answers. As has been mentioned by several other speakers, last night the government had its celebration of 10 years in government. It should be noted too that that would also be 10 years in opposition for the Labor Party. As far as our Great Hall dinner went, it was a modest affair. It acknowledged the absolute privilege of being in government and how grateful we are to the Australian people that at four elections they have given us their confidence. We have, in many respects, been proud to live up to their confidence.

The Prime Minister in his address to the hall said many things about politics. I recommend that the other side get copies of the speech. He spoke of the unpredictability of politics, the ever-changing nature of politics. He finished his address by saying—and I think it was a line out of Gone with the Wind‘There is still much to do and tomorrow is another day.’ The Prime Minister, I should add, was in this chamber to listen to Senator Hill’s address—a rare visit by the Prime Minister. If he had also been in here at question time, I think he would change that line by saying, ‘Tomorrow is not another day; what we’ve experienced today is Groundhog Day.’ For the 10 years we have been in government, you have been bleating and complaining about a policy that has gone to the people of Australia on three occasions. This government’s policy to sell Telstra has gone to three elections and has been endorsed at three elections. Yet, just like Groundhog Day, you whip up the same old arguments and complaints, and it boils down to one thing: you do not support the privatisation of Telstra at all.

This issue of Telstra epitomises our 10 years in government and your 10 years in opposition. In our 10 years in government, on each occasion we have tested this policy with the Australian people. It has a philosophical and policy base to it, and that is competition and choice. We have been transparent, honest and driven by the benefits of privatisation, none less, of course, than the economic benefits of being able to reduce the government debt to zero. And the Australian people know where we have always stood. It also epitomises your 10 years of opposition to this issue, and you are still raising it. After T1, T2 and T3, you still get up here and whip up the same old arguments. You will not accept the judgment of the Australian people, just as you have not accepted the judgment of the Australian people with regard to the government gaining the majority here in the Senate.

Also, the one thing the Australian people know about us is that we are a reformist government—we believe in our reforms and we stick to what we mean; we say what we mean and we do what we mean—whereas they know only too well that you are confused, inconsistent or downright opportunistic when it comes to the policy of privatisation. They have very keen memories of what you did in government. Of course, when you were in government you privatised everything that you could get your hands on, with, I might add, our opposition support. There were Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank just to name a few. And you squandered the funds on top of it. You had no plan and no philosophical base in regard to privatisation; it was just a grab for money to try to fill that deficit gap in your budget, in contrast to this government’s plan of privatisation to reduce debt and to spend the money wisely. So, in many respects, with this issue 10 years on, there are still the same old arguments and the same old basic policy differences. But it epitomises our 10 years of reform government and your 10 years of no policy and picking the wrong issues.