Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I've just been reminded that they are an absolute rabble of a government—

Senator Brockman interjecting—

No wonder you're laughing, because you know it's true. You know that you are a rabble of a government. The coalition is an absolute rabble. The National Party is a rabble. The Liberals are a rabble. The Liberal rabble doesn't like the National rabble and the National rabble doesn't like the Liberal rabble, and the Liberal rabble don't like each other. That's the bottom line with this mob. They are too busy attacking each other like a bunch of schoolkids to actually bring a bill here that deals with the rip-offs of taxation in this country, deals with the black economy and provides more tax, so that you can invest in schools, invest in health, invest in the community and invest in infrastructure. This government is so bad, so disjointed and so insecure that none of these big issues get dealt with.

It's about time that the people of Australia get an opportunity to make a decision about this rabble of a government. The sooner we get to an election the better. The sooner people can make a judgement about this new Prime Minister—who was at the heart of all of those changes in government and who defended the attacks on the Australian community in that first Abbott budget, attacking pensioners, reducing pensions, reducing the capacity for families to put food on the table and attacking young people who couldn't get a job—the better. The sooner that people understand that this new Prime Minister, Prime Minister Morrison, was at the heart of every one of the attacks on working families in this country the better.

Was this new Prime Minister, when he was Treasurer, prepared to deal with black economy issues? No. Was he prepared to deal with the banks, which are ripping workers off, ripping families off, ripping pensioners off and ripping disabled Australians off? No, he was not. On 26 occasions, he stood up and said, 'We should not have a banking royal commission.' Now that he is Prime Minister, he has changed his mind.

We know what this government will do. They will do the same as the John Howard and Peter Costello government did. When they're in trouble, they will throw money at every interest group to try to get a vote. We know the argument that they are good economic managers is an absolute myth. The eras when this country behaved in an economically incompetent manner were under Bob Menzies and under John Howard. They are the times when things went really bad. When the money just keeps pouring in, they throw the money out and don't build for the future. They don't build the infrastructure, build the education systems or build the health system. It's a demonstration of the incompetence of this government.

We want a future for our kids. We want a healthy future for our kids. We want an environment that our kids can look forward to in the future. We want to say that they will have the same benefits we had—that is, of a decent environment—but those opposite are too busy carving each other up on environmental issues. They now simply say it's all about reducing electricity prices. Well, it's not simply about reducing electricity prices; it is about maintaining a future for our kids and grandkids. This incompetent government should go, and this bill demonstrates that they don't have the capacity to deal with the issues effectively.