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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Senator Conroy) to questions without notice asked by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Abetz) and Senator Payne today relating to western Sydney and the Prime Minister.

Even before the PM campaign—which she states is not really a campaign because she is governing—has gotten off the ground, one of her most senior ministers has completely pulled the carpet out from under her. Today's papers show the effect of what Minister Butler said. One only has to look at headline from today's Daily Telegraph, 'The Rooty Hill show, five nights only' to see how the good people of Western Sydney have been made fun of. For them to be mocked in this way is absolutely outrageous. Let us look at the other headlines from today: 'PM's Rooty Hill plan raises a laugh', 'Carry on in Rooty Hill', 'Carrying on governing goes west', 'PM plans to carry on lodging in Rooty Hill' and 'Nightmare for PM'. In fact, as the Herald Sun correctly points out, Ms Gillard is likely to have more luck playing the pokies at the Rooty Hill RSL than she is with pressing the flesh in terms of her broken promises.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the Prime Minister rang Minister Butler yesterday. One could only imagine the conversation. But, of course, her comments would have had to have been tempered because Minister Butler holds some very important votes, which is keeping her there, in place. Perhaps there are announcements being planned in Western Sydney—perhaps involving Minister Butler. It is interesting to note in the Australian Ageing Agenda a couple of days ago the talk about the government making a big announcement on the workforce compact; it is to be a very, very soon. If they are planning on doing it in Western Sydney with Minister Butler, Minister Shorten and the Prime Minister, perhaps they will think twice about the optics of all of that. I do not think that Minister Butler is quite welcome in Western Sydney after his latest escapade.

Even Minister Butler's own colleague Ed Husic, the member for Chifley, publicly repudiated Minister Butler when he said:

I was shocked and outraged, I can't have snooty-nosed free settler types making funny comments about Rooty Hill.

The local member! And then, as the mayor of Liverpool advised the Prime Minister—and it is there in the Australian Financial Review today—'Commute if you mean it.' If the Prime Minister really wants to go out to Western Sydney, perhaps she might like to commute there because she would see what the people of Sydney face daily with the traffic congestion in that city. Perhaps if she went along Parramatta Road she would see all the empty shops that are there because of her carbon tax, because of high electricity prices and because of a whole lot of other things. In the end, the Prime Minister would really know this.

Of course, this is a dysfunctional government—a very dysfunctional government. The last time she went out to the Rooty Hill RSL she made a whole series of promises. She told us about the budget surplus. She told us about cutting company tax. She told us about a whole range of other things. I would really like to see whether she will go back to the Rooty Hill RSL and tell the people of Western Sydney that she lied to them then. How could anybody that she meets out in Western Sydney next week ever believe a word that this woman ever says again.

If she does go out and talk about what her government has done—and so we are hearing the ministers now saying, 'Oh, yes, but she is going to have dialogue with the people of Western Sydney'—she might tell them why Chris Bowen, as the relevant minister, could not stop the boats—a very important point out in Western Sydney, or why Jason Clare could not stop the guns, or why David Bradbury wants to increase super tax. That is the record of the ALP in Western Sydney. (Time expired)