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

I join my colleagues in this momentous debate. It is one of the most important, significant, momentous legislations to go through the parliament in my time. I was party to many such reforms when in government. They were tough reforms and we undertook them. The GST comes to mind, which was a very big one. Previous to that, during the Hawke-Keating government, a debate that took up a great deal of emotion and time in this chamber was the native title debate. I could run through a whole list of momentous occasions where both sides of the parliament exchanged in the debate, as is their responsibility and as is their duty to their public office.

I say to those listening to the broadcast, we have a very bizarre situation here in the parliament. We have a government whose Prime Minister recently—and on more than one occasion, I should add—has gone on television, looking all so ashen-faced, to alert the Australian public to the crisis that befalls the nation. He has done it twice. He did it for the $10.2 billion package and he did it for the $42 billion package. He has elevated this issue to priority 1, which, by the way, it is—of course it is—and that is why we are in the chamber.