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

I'm disappointed that the flavour of the interjections from the opposition again demonstrates the level of political smearing that, frankly, completely—

Opposition senators interjecting—

The Labor Party again tries to suggest there's no context to what is happening here. We are where we are as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic. What we have today is because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is a very sad day for Australia, but that is the reality of it. I know that the Labor Party doesn't want to hear this. As bad as things are for Australia, we went into this period in a stronger position than others. We have gone through this period in a stronger position than others, and the impact on our economy is much less severe than it has been in other parts of the world.

The United Kingdom has experienced a contraction of more than 20 per cent in one quarter. That's the inconvenient truth that the Labor Party is not interested in. The Labor Party wants to come into this chamber and pursue a base political strategy, using this tragedy which is caused by an external event that is beyond our control as a way to score party-political points. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves. The Australian people can see what you're doing. We know why we're here. The Australian people know why we're here. And we know what we need to do to— (Time expired)