Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

You mention the age pension, Senator Sherry. I am glad you reminded me of that, because we demanded—and you might recall we passed the motion—a vote in this chamber to provide for age pensioners last year and that was opposed by the Labor Party. They spoke against it, they voted against it and they threatened about it, and I am delighted to say that at last they have understood the plight of pensioners and have followed our lead in providing something for them. That is not the useless sort of spending that I am talking about.

You have this strange argument put by Senator Collins that it is not Labor’s fault that revenue has fallen. I will tell you one reason why revenue has fallen. Businesses both big and small have absolutely no confidence in an Australia run by Mr Swan and Mr Rudd. Businesses have seen the industrial relations laws change—I am not giving away any secrets here—and a lot of people in small and medium businesses that I know have laid off workers because they are worried about the ongoing industrial relations aims of this government. That is one of the reasons why revenue has fallen.

Other investment in Australia, the sort of investment that keeps Australia going—investments in mines and mineral technology—is also drying up to nothing because people are petrified by the foolish Wong-Rudd emissions trading scheme proposal. It does not matter who you talk to in business; they are worried about the costs being imposed on Australian business and industry by an emissions trading scheme. Whichever way you look at it, people will not invest when they see the country being managed by people who quite clearly have no idea of the consequences of their actions. This is a Labor government that is completely insensitive to the needs of this country and of its people.

While I am talking about insensitivity, my local member of federal parliament, Mr James Bidgood, who I am embarrassed to say represents the electorate in which I live—and we all know about him through some of his other activities—is quoted in today’sTownsville Bulletin as saying to his electors:

Don’t complain, you are lucky to get anything.

So says Labor’s colourful member for Dawson James Bidgood who sung the praises of the Budget but also reminded constituents that times are tough.

“We are bringing down a Budget in the backdrop of the worst global financial recession in 75 years,” he said. “Quite frankly, we are lucky to get anything.”

He is telling the voters in his electorate that they should not whinge about the fact that they have got very little. He said to his electors, ‘Don’t whinge to me; you’re lucky to have got anything at all.’ This shows how completely out of touch Mr Bidgood is, but he represents only the same attitude as Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and others on the other side. They are treating the Australian public with absolute contempt—‘Don’t whinge about what you didn’t get in the budget; you’re lucky to get anything.’

There are a lot of people not very happy in the north, Senator McLucas, because very little at all has gone to Northern Australia. We have had a reannouncement of some money for the Townsville hospital. I am not sure why the money was needed, because the state Labor Premier promised in the election campaign a couple of months ago that she would fix that all up. Clearly, she was not telling the truth because—