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

I was going to start my contribution this afternoon by saying that the government have taken their foot off the throttle, but I have to be honest in this chamber: they've never, ever had their foot on the throttle. The government are leaderless, rudderless and so self-absorbed with their own infighting that they have not progressed in the way that they promised they would at the last election to drive the economy and create jobs. That's the reality of it.

You can tell that we've been on a winter's break, which is good, because most of us reunited with our families. But there was Senator McGrath's contribution this afternoon. If it were not such a serious topic, it would have been quite comical. I give him one tip from today: he needs to buy a razor. Senator Macdonald's contribution was what you would typically hear from somebody who's obviously been in this place for too long. During the winter break, Labor and those on this side of the chamber, and in the other place, were out in the community talking about the issues that really matter to the community: whether they have jobs, whether they are able to meet their rent or their mortgage payments and whether they are able to meet their energy prices. Those are the issues that really matter. But what we've heard from those on the opposite side is all about themselves.

The government have been obsessing about what Labor have been doing when, in fact, what they should be doing is running the country. We've been putting our policies out there. It's fine for Senator Macdonald to talk about some of those in this place, but we're really focused on listening to what the community are saying to us. We've learnt from this period in opposition that we need to develop our policies, and we will have them fully costed before we go to the next election. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister of this country, as we know, is an elitist and he's out of touch. He's more interested in protecting his own job than creating jobs for everyday Australians.

With the infighting, the government have taken their eye off the ball. As I said, they've never had their foot on the throttle. They've always considered themselves to be the champions, and they say that the Australian people trust them when it comes to the economy. The reality is very different under this government. What has this government done in relation to the rising cost of living? What have they done in relation to the rising cost of child care? What have they done in relation to underemployment in this country? People who are unemployed are still the most disadvantaged in this community. There are those in our community who are struggling to pay health care because of low wages. We have not had any wages growth for the last three years at least. There's job insecurity that we have never experienced before.

We see the government ripping off Australians every day—and we have seen what else it has been involved in when it comes to money laundering with one of the big banks. We see excessive university fees. This government is hell-bent on making it harder for Australians to be able to afford to go to university. We know the rising cost of housing. Right across the board, this government has failed in every area that drives the economy and gives Australians a good standard of living.

In his press conference today, the Prime Minister—and maybe he's following on from Senator McGrath and it is comedy day—stood up in front of the media and said, 'I am a strong leader.' Well, what a joke. We've been away for some six weeks and we've seen nothing but chaos and dysfunction from this government. We've seen government members and senators espousing that they want to bring on a vote in this place about marriage equality. What happened? It fizzled out, and those people have gone back underground. Maybe he's been practising in front of the mirror too much, saying, 'I'm a strong leader; I'm a strong leader.' No-one believes he is, because people are totally and utterly disappointed. I hear from Liberal people not only from Tasmania but also when I travel around the country who are so disappointed in the Prime Minister's failure to deliver and to show leadership at a time when Australia is crying out for it.

The Labor Party, under the leadership of Bill Shorten, are united. We are developing our policies and we will have policies the Australian people can have confidence in. I look forward to election day. (Time expired)