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

Can I say—through you, Deputy President—that what is really disappointing is that the good senators on that side of the chamber who represent Tasmania would cause undue stress to the salmon industry workers. He knows, quite frankly, that there isn't any senator from Tasmania, with the exception of your friends down in the corner, that doesn't support the salmon industry in Tasmania. He knows that very well. Again, it's just about misleading, causing a scare campaign and causing stress to workers. If he were really serious about supporting the industry and protecting jobs, he would be working with the government. That's what he would be doing. He would be working with the government.

But let's not leave this debate today without putting some other facts on the record. They're facts in relation to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023, which, again, the Liberals and the Nationals voted against in the other place. Let's also remind people that each and every measure that we as a government introduced to help households deal with the increase in cost-of-living pressures, which we acknowledge are happening in this country, they have voted against—some of them up to six times. I know it's part of the opposition's role to come in and try and criticise the responses that we've given to their questions. But, really, I think Senator Green hit the nail on the head when she said that we, in this place today, witnessed some of the best dorothy dixer questions to our ministers, which enabled our ministers to talk about the real benefits that we're bringing to the community.

We're actually an adult government. I'm quite surprised that those opposite would question the integrity of the government, when what we did in relation to the issue that was brought down by the High Court of this country was to follow the letter of the law. That's what we did, unlike those who created and wrote the legislation which was thrown out by the High Court of Australia. But, no—all we hear is the usual mantra of those opposite since they've been in opposition.

Look, I think you're going to have a lot of time to get used to being in opposition. But, when coming into this place and trying to rewrite history on so many different levels, as you do, you forget that the Australian people are much smarter, obviously, than you are. They see right through you. Don't think that they've forgotten about all the terrible things you did. It was part of your policy to keep wages low, when it was this Labor government who supported an increase to wages for some of the lowest-paid workers in this country. We've supported workers in the aged-care sector, which your government neglected for 10 years. That's without even going into the whole issue of aged care and the embarrassment that you should be feeling about the way you've treated older Australians in this country.

But let's just get the facts straight. We acknowledge that there is a cost-of-living crisis—we do. But, instead of working with us and supporting good legislation, what you do is to continue to vote against it. No wonder the Australian people keep telling me that Peter Dutton is not fit to be Prime Minister of this country.