Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Griffith, Senator Brandis. There was one other absolute gem in the speech, which I want to share with you! It was the member for Griffith referring to the then Treasurer. He said that he is:

… almost like a personality permanently in search of sincerity …

‘Almost like a personality permanently in search of sincerity’. There are three words which came to mind when I read that: ‘pot’, ‘kettle’ and ‘black’. But that is just a historical aside.

The purpose of non-controversial legislation, discussed at this particular time in the diary of the Senate each week, is to facilitate legislation easily and quickly and without controversy. But I do not think it is controversial to try to put things into historical perspective. I think that is something that all senators enjoy and appreciate, because we have a much greater sense of history in this place than they do in the other place.

Mr Acting Deputy President, you will recall the concept of rollback. It was once the Australian Labor Party’s policy to roll back the GST. I have a terrific document here which was a good summary of this policy—not produced by the government but by those on this side of the chamber. It was the Labor Party’s position that the GST was so reprehensible—as put so eloquently by the member for Griffith, Kevin Rudd—that it had to be rolled back. It was such a fundamental injustice. I can imagine the member for Griffith and many of those opposite being devastated when the Australian Labor Party abandoned the policy of rollback and when the Labor Party said that the GST had to be kept. Given that Fundamental Injustice Day was 10 years ago, I can only imagine how the member for Griffith felt when he became the leader of the Australian Labor Party. His first thought would have been: ‘Terrific! I am now the Labor leader. I can bring back the policy of rollback, I can become Prime Minister and I can abolish the GST. I can do that which I really vowed to do on Fundamental Injustice Day: get rid of this evil GST.’ I am sure that was the first thought of the member for Griffith when he became Labor leader, and then when he was elected as Prime Minister he would have thought, ‘Great, I can do this.’

The member for Griffith did return to the policy of rollback, but it was not a policy to roll back the levying of the GST; it was a policy to roll back—or probably ‘pull back’ would be a better term—the GST revenues from the states and to redirect them elsewhere. Far from being opposed to the GST, the member for Griffith is now the greatest supporter and fan of the GST, because he is looking to GST revenues to fund one of his fundamental commitments. It is interesting to see how he has changed over time. The words he used to describe the former Treasurer ‘almost like a personality permanently in search of sincerity’ applies a little more to the member for Griffith these days. Mr Acting Deputy President, you might accuse me of slightly digressing, and I know you are desperate to hear what is in the six schedules relating to this bill—