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

The gag is on him. What courage do they have against the whip or the leader? It would be coming from the Prime Minister’s office, because everything comes from the Prime Minister’s office on that side, even such disgraceful instructions. It is an offence to their oath and to their public life. Where is Senator Marshall, who is never short of a word? He is one of the great filibusters in this parliament. He has gone home and refuses to debate one of the most important issues to ever go through this parliament that is going to affect generations, as my colleagues before me have said, and how true is that? You do not ratchet up $200 billion and not affect several generations, quite frankly. The previous speaker, Senator Bushby, mentioned the Whitlam government. It took generations to flush all the errors of the Whitlam government out of the system. Quite frankly, it was not until the Howard-Costello government before all those errors of debt and deficit were flushed through the system. It took generations, and here we are faced with the same economic madness and approach, as we see it, as the Whitlam government. It is worse, frankly, and I will speak about that later.

Whatever our debate is, whatever we believe is right—and we do—where are you to tell us your case in this parliament? It is not just us—although you are responsible to the whole parliament—but those following the proceedings via the broadcast or the internet, and those back in your electorates, who want to know, who want to see the Hansard and who want to see you present the case. I am labouring this point because I will duplicate everything else that speakers before me and to follow say about the ineffectiveness, the inefficiency and the sheer danger in $42 billion. I will get onto that, but I particularly want to focus on this point and the Victorian senators. Where is the Victorian Senator Collins who has been in and out of this parliament and replaced Senator Ray just recently? She is an experienced senator; she is not inexperienced. She knows how to get up in this parliament and argue her case. She has replaced the godfather of Victorian Labor politics, Senator Ray, who I should add would never kowtow to such an instruction as to not get up and speak on this issue, but Senator Collins has. Is she in the parliament? She has gone home.