Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Disability and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

Well, what an extraordinary contribution—a contribution that was in complete denial of the shambles that this government is. It was a complete denial of exactly what is happening in their caucus room. We have seen a member of the government leave and sit on the cross bench and we've seen another threaten to leave and sit on the cross bench. That contribution from Senator Macdonald completely ignored what was happening. But, unfortunately for Senator Macdonald, the Australian people are not ignoring the shambles that is this government.

Senator Cormann has obviously lost his mojo. He was very fond of his mojo. He used to talk about his mojo all the time, but now he doesn't because he's obviously lost his mojo. He has no idea what to do. He was a part of the group that got rid of the former Prime Minister. He picked the wrong side. He backed his friend, Mr Dutton. Since that time, the government has completely turned in on itself, with infighting and disagreements not only in their caucus rooms but also out in the public. I'm not even talking about the government's inability to handle policy or its inability to agree on energy policy or on climate change; I'm just talking about the fact that this government is more interested in itself.

If those opposite were fair dinkum in their contributions, they would say that Senator Cormann's response to Senator Wong's question today in question time was weak. He made no real attempt to say why Minister Frydenberg was no longer going to the G20. As I understand it, he was going but he is now not going, because he has to stay at home, batten down the hatches and try to keep a government going so the Prime Minister has one to come back to. All this is happening without any regard for the Australian people. This is what is actually happening. This government has lost its way. It lost its way on policy quite a long time ago, and it has now lost its way in attempting to have some semblance of a stable government.

They're in minority government. They do not know from one day to the next what next emergency is going to happen. We've had, as I've said, the member for Chisholm jump ship. We have had threats from other members to jump ship. We've also had a former minister calling a current minister an L-plate minister—one of their own caucus. What is not happening is good governance.

The adults are certainly not in charge No matter how many dorothy dixers they come in here and start sprouting, saying what they're doing, it's not the reality at all, and the Australian people know it. They know that this government has no focus on policy. They know that this government cannot control themselves. They know that this government is not interested in the concerns of ordinary Australians. What they see is instability, infighting and conflict. That is what this government is showing. So what do we do? What's their next plan to try to stop people jumping ship? They put out a sitting program that has 10 sitting days to the next budget. That's all they want to work on behalf of their constituency. The Prime Minister is saying: 'We're only coming here for 10 days, because we don't know what's going to happen when we get here. We're not in charge. That's all the work we're going to do for the Australian people.' Well, this government has to go. (Time expired)