Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I must say I agree with Senator Gallacher in relation to his observation with respect to Blue Poles. I think it was actually a great investment—and I did get an acknowledgement from Senator Gallacher as he left—and I think it's probably worth somewhere north of $350 million this current day.

This issue with respect to former prime ministers and travel, I think it was—and my wife, Louise, if she's watching would remind me—a month ago that my wife was walking our two rescued greyhounds, Chloe and Faye, when Louise actually walked past our former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has a family member who lives in our suburb, and had a convivial exchange with him. It's a bit of a shame that we can't bring that conviviality, with respect to former Prime Ministers, into this place, because I think all former prime ministers should be treated with the respect that their service to our country commands. I say that with respect to prime ministers from both sides of politics.

The fact of the matter is that, when our Prime Minister became aware of the fact that a statement he made in the House of Representatives in response to a personal attack against former Prime Minister Tony Abbott—let's not forget that; it was in response to a personal attack against former Prime Minister Tony Abbott—was incorrect, at the first opportunity, he wrote to the Clerk. This is what he said:

I am writing to inform you that in Question Time today, I made the following statement in response to a question from the Member for Corio in relation to Australians returning home during the pandemic, based on information I understood to be correct at the time.

I thank the member for his question and wonder why he' d want to bring personalities into this, given that Mr Rudd has done the same thing.

I have subsequently been advised that Mr Rudd has not travelled internationally during the pandemic, and was not one of the 95,525 individuals … who had been independently granted an exemption …

I also apologise to Mr Rudd for the statement and am pleased to correct the record.

What is not transparent about that? At the first opportunity, our Prime Minister corrected the record and issued an apology to former Prime Minister Rudd. I think that entirely meets the expectations of the Australian community with respect to how a prime minister should respond on such an occasion.

And then, when that issue is raised by Senator Keneally, she reverts back to attacking former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. She can't resist it; Senator Keneally can't resist the personal attack. She can't resist it. She reverts back to the personal attack on former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is not in a position to defend himself in this place. And then Senator Kennelly makes quite a demeaning, sneering comment about the Morrison family celebrating Christmas lunch on Christmas Day. It was totally gratuitous and totally unnecessary and does nothing to advance public debate in this nation—absolutely nothing. It represents everything about that type of politics that Australians are absolutely fed up with.

Let's absolutely talk about the priority of getting Australians home. I've spoken to Australians trying to get home; I've spoken to their families. I've done everything in my office to facilitate that. I actually give my congratulations to our staff and personnel within DFAT with respect to everything they've done in response to this one-in-100-year pandemic. I think they have been extraordinary, in very difficult cases and in very extreme circumstances. Let us not forget that Melbourne international airport, our second-largest international airport in this country, has been closed for months and months and months because of the debacle in Victoria. But you never hear that mentioned. You never hear that mentioned on the other side. You don't hear any mention of the impact that has had in terms of logistics for bringing Australians home. I wish all my fellow Australians well as we lead up to Christmas and hope as many of them get home as possible. (Time expired)