David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted to speak on this subject this afternoon. One interesting thing I would say at the outset about this MPI is that it does seem to have been the inaugural outing of the Liberal Party’s new Senate leadership team. We have seen Senator Abetz and Senator Brandis put themselves through their paces in attempting, to use that worn old phrase, to develop a narrative for the Liberal Party.

I guess when one considers the subject of broken promises, one has to concede at the very outset that those opposite are very well credentialled indeed when it comes to broken promises. Let us look for a moment at Howard’s and, indeed, Abbott’s record with respect to broken promises, because for 11 years those opposite governed this country on the back of one broken promise following another. ‘There will never, ever be a GST’ was the pronouncement before the 2006 election, and of course we all know what became of that promise. ‘No worker will be worse off’ was the solid undertaking from those opposite when introducing Work Choices. That commitment is now a matter of record, a continuing stain on the honour of the coalition. John Howard declared in 2001:

… I re-state the assurances I have previously made …

• Nobody’s benefit will be cut as a result of changes to the social security system.

Yet only a short time later, in June 2002, the Howard government cut the pensions of some 200,000 disability support pensioners.

In 2004 John Howard swore that he would keep interest rates at record lows. Mr Howard told an interviewer at the time: ‘There won’t be any pressure on interest rates from us.’ This, of course, was followed by five interest rate rises, which again stands as a lasting testament to the fact that those opposite cannot manage a boom and do not have the stomach to manage anything else.

We should not simply confine these broken promises to the former Prime Minister. Tony Abbott himself has star qualities in this debate. In October 2004 Tony Abbott himself gave ‘an absolutely rock solid, ironclad commitment’—those were his words—that the Medicare safety net threshold would not be raised. After the election the threshold was indeed raised. In an interview with Laurie Oaks, when questioned about this spectacular backflip, this spectacular piece of callisthenics, Tony Abbott admitted that the government had indeed been aware of significant budget blowouts in this particular item before the election. Laurie Oakes remarked:

But your word’s not worth much any more, is it? A Tony Abbott commitment now will rouse horse laughs.

That was 2005, but the horse laughs continue, because those opposite today have the stomach, have the gall, have the cheek, to come into this place and try and accuse the Rudd Labor government of being behind ‘a litany of broken promises’. Let us take a moment to look at the profound deceit that sits behind and underpins that proposition. Since the Rudd Labor government came to office those opposite have worked assiduously as saboteurs in this place to block the government’s program. They have left no stone unturned in their resolve to obstruct and stymie the democratic mandate, a mandate secured by Kevin Rudd and Labor in 2007.

I have procured a list of all of the various pieces of legislation that those opposite have successfully blocked in this place and I seek to mention only some of the highlights for the edification of those opposite: the luxury car tax imposition, the Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill, the business investment partnership bill, the climate change bill version 1, the Household Stimulus Package Bill 2009, the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill, the Tax Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy Surcharge Thresholds) Bill 2008, and the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill. It is a short taste of a much longer list which stands as testament to the fact that you have left absolutely no stone unturned in your commitment to blocking the program of this government. For you this might indeed be a list of pride, because you have successfully sabotaged and dismantled, at every available opportunity, the program of this government. Having succeeded in that heinous task all too often, you now have the cheek to come into this place and try and complain about the fact that some of this government’s commitments have not been achieved—the fruit of your own obstructionism. It is an absolute outrage.

Of course, the greatest of those outrages, at least to my mind, is in relation to climate change. While those opposite seek to crow about the fact that climate change legislation has been successfully defeated in this parliament, they do not seem to take the bow for succeeding in achieving that. That bill was brought to this parliament and it was successfully blocked by the coalition and the Greens. Undeterred, the government continued with its resolve to create action on climate change. Penny Wong and Greg Combet, undeterred, entered into negotiations with the Liberal Party. As we know, when it comes to breaking promises those opposite have absolutely superb credentials. So it is no surprise to us that, having reached an agreement with the opposition about the passage of that climate change legislation, the catherine-wheel of the Liberal Party’s climate change policy finally came to rest over the corpse of Malcolm Turnbull. Having finally reached a resolve to be climate change deniers—after 10 or 11 permutations—you blocked that legislation for a second time.

Let us consider the enormity of that deed, because not only were you reneging on an agreement you reached with the government, not only did you tear down your own leader to achieve it, but you did it in the face of your own commitments to the Australian people and in the face of your own policy. (Time expired)