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

Yes, thank you, Senator Birmingham, who is to follow me. Last night the House of Representatives went to five o’clock in the morning on this bill and even then, I should add, many opposition members—Liberal and National party members of parliament—never had a chance to speak because the guillotine came down. But five o’clock is fair enough, to a degree; I am not going to dispute that there was significant debate. I should add that some of the government members did rise to speak. It was a long and tiring but hugely significant debate.

When you go to five o’clock in the morning in this place, it is for a debate of national interest. Now this is a debate of national interest and the bells ring but where is the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister? Not seen. This is a Prime Minister who, ashen faced, does not mind taking up a bit of dramatic time on television to alert the nation to the crisis that beholds us and to say that he is available to fix it, but he will not turn up and put his name to the legislation. You are paid to vote in this place and in the House of Representatives. You are paid to vote, but the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister did not turn up, no doubt—separately—they had gone to bed. They left it to the juniors to fix up. You cannot do that. It is an insult to the parliament and it is an insult to the constituency—an utter insult. As for the Prime Minister, as we get to know him, as the Australian public get to know him, we see that this is the man, this is the fake, this is the fraud who went to the Australian public before the election calling himself the economic conservative. We always knew it was a fraudulent statement but we see now he is railing against neoliberalism and economic conservatism. Quite frankly, it must be a great relief to the likes of Senator Cameron and Senator Carr that this facade of economic conservatism has been dropped. No-one ever believed it. The Australian public may have bought it at one stage but now the facade has fallen—and what a relief to Senator Cameron and Senator Carr! They could not get off the blocks quick enough to condemn economic conservatism under, as they put it, the banner of neoliberalism—whatever that means. Both of them have stood up here espousing their old and dearly held socialist policies and Labor Party policies of tax and spend.