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

I rise today to speak on this matter of public importance moved by Senator Hughes on the economy. I have to confess how bitterly disappointed I am—and continue to be—by the coalition's repeated failure to bring anything of genuine substance into this chamber for a discussion.

The attitude of this opposition is well evidenced in what has been brought to the chamber today. It's an opposition not defined by ambition or aspiration or good will. Those are the values which we on this side of the chamber very much hold dear. But today's MPI reveals an opposition defined by their relentless drive to undermine progress, to diminish hope and to dance on the struggle of Australians who are responding to challenges in our economy and who are working very hard to do that. Instead, what we see is a gleeful opposition coming in here, pretending that they care but crying crocodile tears and actually delighting in every moment that they can say that Australians are doing it tough. And that's all they do. They say the words, and then they say: 'But don't give them any assistance. Don't give Australians assistance. Don't spend.' We heard it through Senator Hughes's contribution: 'Yes, Australians are doing it tough, but do not spend. The government should not be spending. The government should not be helping Australians. They should not be spending.'

So what we've seen is the reality of many challenges to families. High interest rates are the legacy of 10 years of economic mismanagement under the coalition, and certainly that has left Australians with less than they deserve. We do know that Australians are doing it tough, and they need a government that will acknowledge that and respond to it, and that is what we're doing. If Senator Hughes genuinely cared about supporting Australians, and, if the terms in her statement here before the Senate mattered in reality—