Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I do appreciate Senator Watt's efforts in being a history teacher to us all, trying to rake over the coals of history rather than looking forward. I thought he was getting there towards the end of his contribution, when he started talking about issues that actually do matter to the people of Australia—the people of Queensland, the people of Far North Queensland, that he purports to represent—but instead we spent the entire time on a series of questions talking about the inside of politics, the things that they think matter to people, because they've read it in the paper or they've watched it on Sky News. They watched Credlin one Wednesday night, as I know Senator Keneally does, and they think that is what the real world is interested in—no. I have to give Senator Watt credit: he was getting there towards the end, talking about things like power prices, education and being able to ensure that Australians have jobs to go to so they can actually pay their bills, pay their power bills, pay their mortgages and send their kids to school. But, instead, as I say, the focus wasn't on that. There was a question that Senator Watt posed in his contribution just then—