Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The fact remains, irrespective of attempts by the other side to fudge the issue, that the Prime Minister, Ms Gillard, has not been in Queensland in the last four months campaigning in the state election. The reason that has happened is that there is scarcely room for her to be involved in the state campaign in Queensland, because Ms Bligh and her very good friend Kevin Rudd are insisting on taking centre stage at every opportunity. If Ms Gillard turned up to campaign in Queensland she would have trouble finding a photo opportunity that did not have Mr Rudd in the same photo, along with his close friend Anna Bligh.

To suggest that somehow the opposition is not sympathetic to and is not active in assisting flood victims and cyclone victims in Queensland is blatantly untrue. We did not oppose assistance for flood victims. In fact, we pushed and pushed. It was this government that was slow to provide assistance to business, and it was even slower to provide assistance to not-for-profit organisations, but because this government has gotten itself into such a definite situation it had to introduce a levy. Some of the people the Prime Minister visited when she went to St George were probably people who had to pay the levy. There were businesses affected by the floods that were obliged to pay the flood levy. That is how competent this lot is. Of course, if Ms Gillard ever did get herself to Queensland, perhaps she could talk to Ms Bligh. I am not sure it would be very helpful for Ms Gillard to tell Ms Bligh how to go about getting the support of business because, if you look at every example, business is currently terrified of, in fear of and confounded by the poor policy making and the poor implementation of this government.

I am indebted to a correspondent to the Courier Mail, Mr Paul Anderson from The Gap, for making the point that this government has learnt from experience in one area. In June 2009 it scrapped the solar panel installation rebates with seven hours notice, putting hundreds of businesses into very difficult financial situations. In February 2010 it scrapped the home insulation scheme and reduced solar hot water rebates with five hours notice. The government has learned its lesson, because it announced the scrapping of the revised solar hot water rebate after close of business on Tuesday, with no hours of notice at all. Perhaps that is something that Ms Gillard could help Ms Bligh to perfect: the technique of how you leave businesses completely out in the cold. To suggest that this lot has any way of understanding business is outside reality. This government does not understand how businesses run; why would we expect it to? Like the Queensland government, it is composed almost entirely of union officials and staffers.

There is one area where Ms Gillard could seek some advice from Ms Bligh. I refer to the case of Mr Gordon Nuttall, who was a former minister in the Beattie government in Queensland. Mr Nuttall was first known as one of the faceless men who attempted to unseat then Premier Beattie and replace him with Anna Bligh. He went on to become health minister in the Beattie government. To use a phrase used in here recently by Senator Furner, he was one of a conga line of health ministers that the Queensland government has had because of the appalling maladministration in that department. In 2009 he was charged with and found guilty of corruptly receiving secret commissions during his time in office, and he was jailed for seven years. In 2010 he was found guilty of another five charges of official corruption and five charges of perjury, for which he received another seven years. He is the longest serving criminal Commonwealth politician. (Time expired)