Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On 21 May 2022 Australians voted for a better future: a future of reform to create a fairer Australia—an Australia which builds people up and supports families, and a stronger future for all Australians so they can get ahead and there are opportunities for all.

However, before I talk more about Labor's plan for a better and fairer Australia and about what we have achieved thus far within the first nine months of government, I must speak about what should be unspeakable. The man who broke the Liberal Party's heart—the former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison—and those opposite should hang their heads in shame. The former government will be remembered for the lengths that they would go to to trash our institutions and conventions for their own selfish political ends and to try and trash our democracy and abuse relationships between the government of the day and the people of Australia, the Australian media and the Australian Public Service.

I think Australians all breathed a sigh of relief on election night when the government was defeated. The former PM was effectively running a shadow government that his ministers and government MPs and senators did not know about, let alone the people of Australia. But some people, including those opposite, would have heard rumours. They would have known what was happening.

Mr Morrison had turned into a national joke, and rightly so. He was a Prime Minister who couldn't keep his word, let alone a promise. Australia is a proud Liberal democracy which rightly upholds the highest standards of the Westminster tradition. Now, these principles and conventions were mercilessly ignored by Mr Morrison during his prime ministership. We've continued to witness more proof that Australia deserved so much more than Mr Morrison, in book after book since the time he was in office. While in office, he undermined our democracy, trashed the principles of responsible government, centralised power and knowingly concealed the truth from the media and the Australian people. This was a dark chapter in our country's history; there are no other words to describe it.

Now out of office, Mr Morrison is trying to spin his way out of decisions he made willingly. But history will not forget him. His recent performance at the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme was ample evidence that this man should never have been trusted with the leadership of the Liberal Party, let alone with being Prime Minister of this country. If we as a country do not ensure open and transparent government and restore trust in our public institutions, the people of Australia will become even more disillusioned with our sacred democracy.