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

This is a clear example of what the Labor Party gets up to. I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for her contribution, because it exposes the falsehoods that are always spun into their narrative. I would invite the deputy leader to actually listen to what the CEO of Australia Post, one Ms Holgate, has had to say:

Unfortunately there has been a range of false claims made about the temporary changes to our regulations. We are not forcing 2,000 of our valued posties into redundancies.

That is an unequivocal statement from the CEO of Australia Post. Yet a senior member of the Australian Labor Party seeks to assert the exact opposite—a complete falsehood, with no fact and no substantiation offered—whereas we on the government side are able to show the support and substantiation from the CEO of Australia Post, keeping in mind that Australia Post is a government business enterprise in which the government of the day cannot interfere. If I recall correctly, that was a change made to Australia Post by none other than the then Labor minister for communications, one Mr Kim Beazley. So, it was a Labor change that does not allow government to make those sorts of interferences.

Another statement from the CEO of Australia Post:

Union claims as many as one in four postie jobs will be impacted are false.

But who made that claim? Senator Keneally, right in here, made that false claim. Why? Because her union bosses told her to do so. Yet we now know that it is completely and utterly false. If Senator Keneally wants to practice what she preaches at us, she will be coming in here to apologise for misleading the Senate, either knowingly or unwittingly—her choice, but clearly a falsehood and a misleading of the Senate. What is more, Senator Keneally made the false assertion that there was no consultation with the union movement, yet the CEO of Australia Post says:

We continue to extensively consult with the union on issues and challenges COVID-19 has presented …

So either we believe Senator Keneally or we believe Ms Holgate, the CEO of Australia Post. There is, unfortunately, a developing consistency about Senator Keneally's contributions in this place and in the public space: you can't rely on what she says. It is spin, and it is spin that is not based on truth and is not based on evidence. It is spin designed to help the Australian Labor Party's ever-flagging political fortunes. What did Senator Keneally spin into her narrative? A number of townships around the electorate of Eden-Monaro. What are they doing? The ALP, very transparently, are peddling falsehoods. Like they did with 'Mediscare' in 2016, they have put a false narrative out into the electorate in a desperate attempt to win votes.

They cannot win votes on their own merit. If they sought to, you just had to listen to question time today. What was the first question from Senator Gallagher about? The ever-increasing debt. Two or three questions later, the question was about the government not spending enough. So we are condemned for an increased debt, then we are attacked for not spending enough. The narrative is completely and utterly inconsistent, and that is why the Australian Labor Party so consistently leaves the Australian economy in a mess. And, when it does so, it means that Australians lose their jobs.

That is why the economic management of this country is so fundamental, and that is why it's so important that people seeking to offer themselves to public life understand the importance of the economy. We on this side do. Senator Keneally and the Labor Party have today displayed and disclosed they do not understand it. I invite Senator Keneally to be honest and put into the Hansard record Ms Holgate's statements. (Time expired)