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

I can't believe I'm actually going to agree with some of the comments that Senator Rennick has just made in this debate. He is right: the coalition have not done their work when it comes to policy. What we do know, though, is that, when we won the last election, we inherited interest rates going up, the cost of living going up, and high inflation. It had a six in front of it. What we have done in the almost three years that we've been here is work every single day to bring that inflation down while at the same time lowering unemployment to figures that we haven't seen in this country, with low inflation and low unemployment, which is benefiting the Australian community.

Yes, we know the cost of living has had a huge impact, but we know that's been felt around the globe. But those people on the other side want to try and rewrite history. They live in Fantasia, where they are the only ones that are ever right. They come in here and try to grandstand with these MPIs, but, when it comes to reality, the Australian people know who Mr Dutton is. They remember him in his portfolios in the past. Yes, I do recall that there was an organisation in Health when he was the health minister: the prestigious AMA, who voted him the worst health minister in Australia's history. Why did they do that? It was because he cut. He gutted it. He used health and aged care as an ATM. That's what he did when he was minister. They will not want to go back to him.

The beauty of it is that they're so consistent on that side. They've had almost three years in opposition. They have no policies except for nuclear energy that's going to cost every mum and dad and business in this country, if it ever happens, more when it comes to energy and power prices. And the other major policy they have is bringing back long lunches for bosses on the taxpayer. That's their priority. Every single measure that we brought into this chamber and the other place to give relief to the Australian community and to families—reducing the cost of medicine, bringing in 60-day scripts, having the opportunity for people to see a GP when they need urgent care. We developed the urgent care clinics, which are so successful. I can't speak highly enough of the contribution that the urgent care clinic has delivered to my community in Launceston and northern Tasmania, taking the pressure off the hospital and accident and emergency. That's delivering for the community.

We know that, when they were in government, their great claim to fame was that their policy was to keep wages low. It was for Australian workers to have their wages low. Now they've come up with, 'We are going to have cuts, but we're not going to tell you until after the election.' Well, no-one is going to trust Mr Dutton, because we know his track record. My community members are asking me, 'How much is this going to cost me if there is a change in government?' I remind them that, if they vote for Bridget Archer, who is a really nice person, she will deliver Peter Dutton into the Lodge, and that's not going to be good for the Australian community. So be careful what you wish for, when you're voting for your local Liberal member. Who would then be the Prime Minister?

They voted against every single measure that we have brought in, including lower power prices, delivering energy relief, tax cuts twice as large as what they promised when they are in government—which they said they would scrap when they got into government—introducing fee-free TAFE and rebuilding the skills of Australian workers. They come in here and cry crocodile tears about the cost of living and the impact that it's having. If they were genuinely concerned, they wouldn't have joined forces with the Greens. (Time expired)