Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Wasn't that an extraordinary contribution? These are the biggest voting reforms in 30 years, but it is micromanagement for the government to actually tell the Senate when they might actually start telling voters about it. Well, I do not remember you waiting for legislation before you spent millions advertising your failed university reforms. Tell me why you are advertising—what is this thing?—the 'ideas boom'. That is an important advertising campaign, isn't it? What is it? 'There's never been a more exciting time to be an Australian. That is pretty important! Or how about the failed Dr Karl campaign on the IGR? That went well too, didn't it? Then there is the China FTA campaign, which magically did not target exporters or businesspeople or firms; it magically targeted—guess who their target audience was—every Australian above 18. I wonder if that is just every voter.

What a disingenuous contribution, to dismiss a question about an advertising campaign—an education campaign—by saying, 'Oh, we don't micromanage.' You are very happy to micromanage an ad campaign about your failed university reforms. You are very happy to run a campaign with taxpayers' money on a tax white paper that you shelved. You are very happy to use taxpayers' money to fund an advertising campaign on your 'ideas boom', magically using some of the words that the Prime Minister himself loves to utter—'never been a more exciting time to be an Australian'. You are very happy to run a failed campaign on the Intergenerational report, but you are not happy to come in here and tell the Senate when you will start explaining to Australians what these reforms mean.

Minister, I have a very simple question: what is the difference between all the campaigns I have just spoken about and the one you will not tell us about?