Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I need to put on the record some response to some of the claims that have just been put and repeated, which are completely incorrect. A 'hand-picked chair' is a choice of words that reveals the cynicism and negativity of this opposition at every single turn. We have the first female chair of the Productivity Commission for the country, who has been selected in a merit based appointment process where there was a series of interviews. It was a merit based process involving interviews with two departmental secretaries and the APS Commissioner. Through that rigorous, transparent process, a brilliant woman has now become the first female chair of the Productivity Commission. And what have we got in terms of questions in here today? No acknowledgement of that significant appointment, which is manifestly important to women in Australia. The productivity of this nation matters to all of us. Blokes have had a go ever since we've been instituted as a nation. We've got a bright, amazing woman who's eminently qualified for the job, and we get these miserly, negative, damaging comments and questions from those opposite. The reality is that we need to have confidence and hope in our nation, not the fear and the cynicism which we have seen are so much a part of the former government and which continue and actually get worse by the day the longer they're in opposition.

I want to put paid to another critical suggestion. They just suggested that Danielle Wood is not a fit and proper person for the role. They have suggested that there is some sort of inheritance tax being considered. I just want to make it 100 per cent clear, despite the mischief of those opposite, that that is not going to happen. So let's just get rid of that mythology that is under construction at the moment as well.

We have a merit based appointment of Danielle Wood to do the work that should have been done over the last nine years. In fact, there was a series of incredible recommendations in the Productivity Commission reports that were delivered by previous commissioners. What did those opposite do when they had the treasury bench, control of the government and the opportunity to implement changes to improve our productivity? They squibbed it. There were nine years of wasted opportunity. What did they leave us with? They left us with the reality that we have the very worst productivity figures in 60 years. Senator Gallagher responded with those facts, yet we still have denial by those opposite.

Let's look at it. They talk about an inheritance tax that doesn't exist; they demean and diminish the appointment of the first woman to be the chair of the Productivity Commission; they deny the reality of their period of nine years of government during which they delivered the most appalling historical productivity figures; and they come in here and act as if they're holier than thou and they did a fantastic job. Well, the facts just do not bear out the reality that they're trying to construct.

We've got a choice here. Every single time we come to question time, we've got a choice with the answers that we give and the questions that are posed: to lift the nation or to diminish us. The questions we saw today are another example of the fear and cynicism machinery that is alive and well in this opposition. They have a bleak outlook about our country. They have a failure mentality. They constantly whinge and whine, and they diminish every achievement of our nation. Cynicism never built a thing. In contrast, we are a government of confidence: confidence in the Australian people and confidence in our capacity to lift and build a better nation. We are a government filled with hope and opportunity that will give our country a much better future. Optimism is a state of mind that is absolutely missing from the miserly, diminishing sorts of questions that we get from this opposition day in, day out. We should expect with confidence that the new chair of the Productivity Commission, Danielle Wood, who is originally from Adelaide and has an honours degree in economics from the University of Adelaide and master's degrees in both economics and competition law from the University of Melbourne, will do a great job. They should get on board.