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

Here we are again back in the chamber and we've got the crocodile tears from those opposite for Australian workers and for Australian families who are doing it tough. If those opposite were really serious and if indeed they had cared even a little bit for Australians and their families who are doing it tough, they wouldn't have spent the entire year in this chamber saying no—voting against every measure that this Labor government has brought into this chamber and this parliament. Seriously! I think you are truly underestimating the Australian people. They see right through you and they certainly see who Mr Dutton really is.

When it comes to the reality of helping Australians, why was it that, when you were in government, you left the country with an amazingly huge financial debt which was out of control? You talked about us having had three budgets. We're the first government—in how long?—to bring down a surplus. You promised it, but you never delivered it. We have brought down two consecutive budget surpluses.

We have put forward cheaper medicines to help people with the cost of living, and 60-day scripts, which will help with the cost of living. And what did you do when you were in government? You had a policy of keeping wages low. You say we've been here almost three years. Why didn't you address the aged-care issues during your 10 long years, when you sent that sector into crisis? It is an absolute shame on your government for not addressing wages for aged-care workers, not investing in and addressing what you knew was impacting on older Australians. Why did you vote against a pay rise for early childhood educators? Why didn't you support them?

The only reason we're having this debate today is that we're going into Christmas and you want to get a few social media grabs. But the reality is that people who are doing it tough know which colour of government will always look after them, whether they're workers—looking after their rights at work to make sure they're protected—or it's ensuring that there's investment so that there's more GP bulk billing, which has had an amazing impact in my home state of Tasmania. We've invested in urgent care clinics. The four that we have in Tasmania are ensuring that people have access to a GP when they need it, and all they need is a Medicare card.

Let's not forget your former Prime Minister who said, 'If you want to buy a house, you've got to have rich parents.' That's the attitude of those opposite. So you're coming in here, trying to rewrite history, blaming us for not delivering on some election commitments—we have delivered on them. When it came to giving people relief on their energy bills, I can't remember how you voted. Can someone help me? You voted no. You voted no on every single measure that was going to have a real impact on Australian families. And what did you do around housing? You cuddled up to the Greens and spent an entire week—an entire week—not voting against the bills but voting not to have a vote on those bills. And you expect the Australian people to believe the hands on hearts and the crocodile tears and the rubbish that is now being put forward in this chamber? Really! Well, I have more faith in the Australian people; I really do.

I've called out the Australian Greens political party for playing political games for 12 long months when there could have been more social and affordable housing and Australian families could have been helped to buy their first home. When it suits those opposite for some political campaign, we get the same rhetoric the entire time. The proof is always in the pudding. The proof is on the record in how they voted each and every time.