Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is often said that, out of the overflow of the heart, so speaks the mouth. And what we have just heard is five minutes of personal denigration, hatred, nastiness—all those sorts of qualities that really are unbecoming of anybody in this chamber, let alone somebody who seeks to portray themselves as a frontbencher and an alternate minister in an Australian government. I just hope the Australian people who might read the Hansard or have listened to this broadcast stop to consider and ask themselves the question: would you really want such a person representing you in the high office of a government ministry?

We on this side are used to these tirades from Senator Cameron, but they do him and the Australian Labor Party a great injustice. What we on this side of the House are continuing to do is deal with the questions—and that is what Senator Nash is doing as well—dealing with the questions and issues confronting the Australian people. The Australian people want their government to be focused on international security—think North Korea. That is what the government's been doing with the Prime Minister in telephone conversations with the President of the United States, and our Minister for Defence has been making a tour of the region to ensure that our international security is guaranteed. What the Australian people want to know is that our national security is guaranteed—think border protection. That is what this government is focusing on: delivering national security for our fellow Australians. What the Australian people want us to be thinking about, talking about and delivering on is security of household budgets, how we can drive down the cost of living for our fellow Australians—think energy cost: the ever-burgeoning cost of energy and electricity for Australian households, Australian small business, Australian farmers and indeed our big manufacturers.

That is why the government is focused on ensuring that these issues are dealt with so that we can in fact undo the legacy issues of the idiotic ideology of the green movement, which has seen the complete compromise of our energy system. All we need to do is look at the hapless Labor government in South Australia, who bragged that on some days they can get 102 per cent of their energy from renewables. Of course, when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow, their energy supply is zero—and they then wonder why they have blackouts. The Australian people also want their government to look at intergenerational fiscal equity—in other words, that we don't pass on a legacy of debt to the next generation, as the Australian Labor Party would have done with their irresponsible promises day after day after day.

These are the issues that Senator Nash, a very capable minister in the coalition government, is dealing with on a day-by-day basis. And what does the Labor Party say? They focus on an unfortunate issue in relation to citizenship, which will be resolved by the High Court in due course. But do you know what the Australian people want? They want Senator Nash—a very capable, competent minister—to keep on with the task of running the country, of governing in the best interests of the Australian people, and not be distracted by this particular issue. Of course, if we were to listen to the Australian Labor Party then the postal survey on whether or not we should change the definition of 'marriage' was going to be thrown out by the High Court. Well, the news is—it was hot off the press about one hour ago—that that prediction by the Australian Labor Party was completely false, and not just by a slim margin. It was 7-0. Once again, the Labor Party, in this area, have sought to play the game of spoiler, to deny the Australian people the opportunity to have a say. We, on this side, are saying: 'We trust the Australian people. We want them to have a say.' There's a great distinction between Labor and the coalition on all these issues. (Time expired)