Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

After a very, very mediocre 2016, you would think that Mr Turnbull would have kicked off 2017 with a new agenda, a plan—a first draft, even. But, unfortunately, this was not the case. Mr Turnbull addressed the Press Club last Wednesday, and things just seemed to go from bad to worse for the Prime Minister after that speech, culminating, as we know, with Senator Bernardi defecting from the Liberal Party yesterday. So the circus continues.

I have to say it is a good thing for Mr Turnbull that there is not an election this year, because, having achieved so little since becoming Prime Minister, most of us are scratching our heads wondering what the point of this government is and what the good reason was for sending us to a double dissolution at the last election. We are all still wondering that. Support for Mr Turnbull's government is freefalling, their popularity is slipping, and I personally think that one good reason for that is that they are so out of touch. We know that everything they touch is stuffed up, so how can we rely on them to handle even a piece of legislation like this? In stark contrast to Labor, the Liberals have kicked off this year with no direction, no plan and, above all, no narrative. Mr Turnbull has said over and over that his government is a government of the 21st century, that it is agile and innovative and that there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian, but the only thing that resonates with people in Australia—particularly in my home state of Tasmania—the thing that they are utterly disappointed with, is this dithering and dysfunctional government. Mr Turnbull is a Prime Minister who gave hope to so many in the community, but there are so many people now who are utterly disappointed.