Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw my comments. The point I wanted to make, Senator Polley, is that you know every time you come in here and parrot that absolute codswallop it is wrong, because you cannot even bother reading the data that has been put out by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. If I had to believe anybody I would believe the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare—not you, Senator Polley, or your Labor colleagues who would not even know how to lie straight in bed.

I now come to the point in order, which is the motion before us about the dysfunctional government. I begin my comments by quoting the Canberra Timesfrom 27 February, not that I often quote the Canberra Times:

Contempt. Demeaning. Ludicrous. Psychopath. Chaotic. Paralysis. Dysfunctional. Impossible.

These are the words of venom and vituperation that spewed forth from Labor ranks over the last week, directed at former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his brand of leadership, spoken by a cabal of his closest cabinet ministers. We saw the charge led by none other than Minister Roxon and I will come to some of her comments in relation to health in a moment. We had Mr Swan unleashing on Mr Rudd minutes—just minutes—after the latter resigned from his portfolio, accusing him of sabotaging the 2010 election. We had the member for Bendigo, Mr Gibbons, referring to the former Prime Minister as a psychopath. And the list goes on. Sources say, in an article by Samantha Maiden:

Kevin Rudd described Julia Gillard as a "childless, atheist, ex-communist" at an Adelaide pub as he plotted a political comeback a year ago.

As everybody was scurrying to deny it, one of the lawyers present at that occasion is prepared to sign a stat dec to that effect. They were all in denial, of course, about this so-called reality of what is now the Labor Party and comments that were made barely a month ago were denied. Now the real gloves are off and we see that a third of Ms Gillard's caucus has now voted against her and a quarter of her cabinet do not have confidence in her.

I come now to health. Through the mouth of former health minister Nicola Roxon, we have had an enormous insight into what has become an example of ramshackle decision making under the Rudd-Gillard Labor government. In Senate estimates I prosecuted this issue in February 2010. I asked questions about whether there actually was a health plan when the Rudd government came to power. There was certainly no plan. There was not even a plan on the back of an envelope. Of course, the officials were quick to deny all of this but the reality is that out of Minister Roxon's mouth we now know just how ramshackle it was. There was not actually a plan. There never was a plan for health reform.

Indeed, in one of many interviews that Minister Roxon gave she talked about the shambolic lack of proper cabinet processes. Processes were not used. She said:

Some very big decisions were being contemplated, in health in particular, that's of course the closest experience that I had, that often there was an inclination to want to go and announce those things without there being proper cabinet discussion or consideration of the downsides rather than just some of the political or potential upsides.

And we have seen the example of Mr Rudd wanting to go to a referendum, knowing that a referendum on the takeover of health would not succeed. He thought it would be a good tool to be able to win the election. The cynicism!

One cannot but be cynical about the way this government operated. On another occasion in an interview, Minister Roxon referred to Mr Rudd's choice to have a referendum about taking over the health system 'knowing full well and agreeing that that referendum would be lost but thought it would be a good tool to be able to win the election'. Mr Rudd was prepared to have such a cynical approach to this.

Again, on Sky News, Minister Roxon was asked by Kieran Gilbert about the rigmarole of a referendum. She agreed absolutely. Minister Roxon said that Mr Rudd had sat there with Karl Bitar and everybody else and said, 'Look, this is a really popular thing to do; we would win the election.' She went on:

I said, ‘Yeah, but we wouldn’t win the referendum. Look at the history of referendums.

This is the sort of cynical stunt that the Rudd-Gillard government were prepared to do in health. And those opposite trumpet the so-called good things that they have done in health! This is what it was all about.

It was all about the photo opportunities. Then Prime Minister Rudd and then health minister Roxon were going out there for the photo opportunities. That was all it was about. If they really cared about the health of this country they would have taken a serious approach in relation to proper health reform. They knew that they would not get the consent of the states to do it but they went along just for the politics of it.

It is very clear from the comments that Minister Roxon has now made that health was only one of the examples. This was what they did in relation to their so-called big health reforms. Ms Roxon went on to say, on Sky News on 24 February:

... he wouldn’t get proper legal advice, he wouldn’t let officials properly prepare the pros and cons and if you don’t do that then you can’t actually assess what risks are involved for Government or the public in going down a course that might be populist and politically successful but ultimately will end in tears.

That is the approach that this government has taken in relation to health, which was supposed to be one of their most important reforms.

I thank Senator Brandis for his note. He has just informed me that Senator Arbib has just announced that he is resigning from the Senate forthwith. Well they are descending; it is much more shambolic. It will be interesting to see. I wonder if Senator Arbib is going to write a book and tell us the truth about some of the shambolic recent history in New South Wales. I wonder if it is going to be as interesting as the book that Morris Iemma and former minister Costa have written: the real truth about New South Wales.

With all of this happening it is little wonder that, irrespective of the result today, there will be no peace and harmony—that they will all be 'happy little vegemites' to quote former Prime Minister Rudd. I do not think that will be the case.

As Martin Ferguson said, he knows that the faceless men will still be in charge. There will be one faceless man fewer now, Senator Mason, because Senator Arbib is going. But those faceless men are at work today, and they will be at work in the future, because they just cannot help themselves. So, I say to this Prime Minister that the issue at hand is about our government and our future. Let's go to an election.