Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

They are both correct. That is because they are both distinguished, high-performing members of the Liberal team. In case it escaped Senator Carr's notice, it was a state election. In Victoria on the weekend we had a state election. We wish our team had done better, but the result is as it is and we respect the verdict of the Victorian people in that state election. As I have also observed today, of course the events of a few months ago at the federal level didn't help, but certainly all the feedback that we had from our supporters at polling booths was that this was, predominantly, a state election fought on state issues. That doesn't mean to say that as a government at the federal level we won't listen carefully. Of course we will listen very carefully to what people in Victoria have told us and we'll continue to refine the way that we move forward. That's something that we have a responsibility to do.

In the end, our focus is on making sure that Australians today and into the future have the best possible opportunity to get ahead. That is why, having inherited a weakening economy from Labor, having inherited rising unemployment from Labor, having inherited a rapidly deteriorating budget position from Labor, what we have done over the last five years is work hard to ensure that Australians today and into the future have the best possible opportunity to get ahead on the back of a stronger economy—more jobs—and indeed to get the budget back into a stronger and improving position into the future. We have a responsibility. We're very conscious of the responsibility we have to the Australian people to ensure that our agenda can continue to be implemented beyond the next election, federally, and we will do everything we can to learn the lessons at the federal level from the Victorian state election.