Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters) Share this | Hansard source

When we think back to the last election, I recall in the week before the election the Labor Party put out their picture.

Senator Gallagher interjecting—

Senator Wong interjecting—

It's a good one! I've got the picture; it's a good one. It's in my office. You're in it, Senator Wong. Senator Wong was in the picture. Mr Bowen was in the picture. Mr Shorten was in the picture. Mr Chalmers was in the picture. What they said is, 'We're ready.' I think about that election when I see what the Labor Party go on about in opposition and the way they behave. I think about the reasons for that. There's been a lot written about it, about their economic plan. The wrecking ball they wanted to take to the Australian economy with their higher taxes plan was part of that. The line of questioning that we saw in question time today which we're debating now—the questions that they put and the answers that were given to those questions—fundamentally goes to the disdain the Australian Labor Party have for the Australian people. They have absolute disdain for the Australian people.

We saw it with the claim that you could raise taxes by $387 billion and that would have no impact, that you'd be able to have this magic money tree and distribute money wherever you liked and that would have no impact on the economy. We saw it in question time today and the attacks that the Labor Party are launching. They showed such disdain for the Australian people. They think that they won't notice that when they attack us as we face this economic downturn and they ignore what is going on around the world and what is going on in Australia in terms of this thing called COVID-19, coronavirus, and the wrecking ball that that has been for the world economy.

Opposition senators interjecting—

We have Labor senators interjecting about this. They seem to think that the Australian people are too dimwitted to notice that there are these things going on and that governments around the world are seeking to deal with it. This Australian government, this coalition government, has put forward policies right throughout to shield Australians from the worst of the economic impact. Can we stop all of the economic impact? No, unfortunately, we can't. That's why days like today, when we see those figures out there and we see a number put on the challenges and the suffering that so many Australians are going through as we deal with this health crisis and economic crisis, are tough days. We are thinking about those people who have lost their jobs.

Opposition senators interjecting—

Again, we get these ridiculous interjections. But the Labor Party would like us to pretend that this is all happening in a vacuum, that the drop in GDP that has been announced today, that we take seriously, that we've been working so hard—

Senator Pratt interjecting—