Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The President has received a letter from Senator Fifield proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion, namely:

The Gillard Government's breach of trust with the Australian people through its record of broken promises and maladministration.

I call upon those senators who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

I understand that informal arrangements have been made to allocate specific times to each of the speakers in today’s debate. With the concurrence of the Senate, I shall ask the clerks to set the clock accordingly.

Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to refer the chamber to an interview by Michael Smith from 2UE with the member for Dobell, Craig Thomson, on Monday, 1 August. I suggest that anyone who needs some good, hearty reading go and get a copy of this interview and have a very close look at it. I will just take the chamber through some of the matters in this interview:

Smith: OK. Did you take the matter to the police if you believe the credit card was used improperly, did you go and report it to the police?

Thomson: The union reached a settlement with another gentleman who paid back $15,000 in relation to use of credit cards at an escort agency.

Over the weekend what did we hear from the former Victorian Health Services Union secretary, Jeff Jackson, in relation to this matter? Mr Jackson identified himself as the man who had paid back $15,000, but what was the rider that he put on it? The rider was that Mr Thomson had made a 'risky' implication in claiming that a $15,000 repayment was linked to escort service bills. So one of the defences last week from Mr Thomson has been blown out of the water by one of his former colleagues at the HSU. Mr Thomson wanted the listeners of 2UE to believe that it was not him who had paid this money but someone else, and that person was required to repay those escort agency bills. Mr Jackson, the person involved in the repayment, has made it quite clear that that was a risky implication. Well, 'risky implication' means it is not true. Mr Thomson's interview was remarkable because, as we all know, it is an interview that has now been taken up by former senator Graham Richardson, who has made it quite clear that it is an interview which will once and for all damn the member for Dobell.

I will follow on in relation to the claims about this particular gentleman, which we now know are untrue:

Smith: Did he forge your signature?

Thomson: I don't know whether he forged my signature or who forged my signature …

He was asked if he took the matter to the police, Mr Thomson said:

Our handwriting expert believes there were a number of different signatures.

What I say to the member for Dobell is: release the outcome of your handwriting expert's inquiry and put it on the table. Last week, that was the second part of Mr Thomson's new defence in relation to these matters. We have had the $15,000 mystery man. The mystery man has come out and made it quite clear that he is no mystery man and that he repaid money which most certainly was not in relation to escort services. The second part of the new defence from Mr Thomson last week was in relation to the handwriting expert. Mr Thomson should bring in the handwriting expert's report, lay it on the table of the House of Representatives and say, 'This is my ultimate defence to the charges that I was paying for and using these escort services.' This was one opportunity that the member for Dobell had, amongst many. He had another opportunity today in the other place and again he chose not to take it. He had the opportunity to put the handwriting expert on the witness stand and have them say what Mr Thomson has been saying—that they were different signatures and that his signature was forged—but he squibbed it. At the door of the court he pulled out of this much vaunted defamation action. This was the defamation action that Mr Thomson had written to his colleagues about. I have seen the letter and those opposite know that in that letter he pleaded his innocence in this matter. It was the perfect opportunity to go into court and put all of this information on the table and say, 'This is the proof of my innocence', but Mr Thomson squibbed the opportunity to do a whole lot of things and at least put on the witness stand the one person who could prove his innocence, if Mr Thomson was correct.

What does the community take out of this? What is the only realistic thing the community can take out of this? What they will take out is that the handwriting expert did not support Mr Thomson. The hand­writing expert did not say that these signatures were forged. The handwriting expert actually said that it was Mr Thomson's signature. That can be the only rational explanation for this matter not proceeding to court. This was a defamation action that Mr Thomson was speaking publicly with his colleagues about and it was going to be his day in court, but when he had the chance he pulled out.

Not only did he pull out of the pro­ceedings but also he pulled out and was required to pay either some or all of Fairfax's costs. Who paid for those costs? Did Mr Thomson pay for those costs? No, he did not. The people who paid his costs were the rank and file members of New South Wales Labor who had trusted that their funds to the Labor Party in New South Wales would be put towards the betterment of the Australian Labor Party. I disagree that it is going to make the party any better but those members were entitled to put that money there and they were entitled to know that it would be for the betterment of the Australian Labor Party. They were not putting their funds in there to protect the Craig Thomsons of this world. The people who Mr Thomson had ripped off during his time in charge of the HSU were the mums and dads who do the most menial and dirty jobs in this country, such as cleaning hospitals. He has treated them with complete and utter contempt.

There was a motion in the other place today moved by the Manager of Opposition Business which would have allowed the member for Dobell to come into the chamber and explain his actions once and for all. If everything he said was true then that would have been the end of the matter for him. He chose not to do so. In this chamber today the Minister for Sport had the opportunity to refute serious allegations of his involvement and the involvement of the Prime Minister's office in the payment of these funds towards Fairfax's legal costs. If you were Senator Arbib, who is at arm's length in this matter to the extent that he was not involved in the defrauding of union funds, and you were very publicly being dragged into this in the weekend papers, wouldn't you take that opportunity?

The first opportunity would have been to put out a press release. He did not take the first opportunity. The second opportunity would have been today when I asked him the question: were you involved and what was the involvement of the Prime Minister's office? He refused to answer. He refused to answer not on the back of the question being ruled out of order, because it was not ruled out of order. It was not on the back of that. He refused to do it for one reason and one reason only. Here today we had further proof of the absolute—

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer was yes.

Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer was yes. We had absolute proof that Senator Arbib, New South Wales Labor and the Prime Minister's office were involved in the discussions about the payment of these legal costs. As I said in an earlier contribution, this has gone from the seat of Dobell to the highest seat in this country, and that is the Prime Minister's seat. As a result of the refusal of Senator Arbib today to deny the press reports, this Prime Minister is now absolutely and totally implicated in the payment of Fairfax's legal costs. She is totally implicated in the discussions surrounding the payment of those costs with Mr Thomson and New South Wales Labor. This Prime Minister stands utterly condemned.

Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to contribute to this matter of public importance as well, conversely to Senator Fifield's proposal. As a senator I am really proud of our govern­ment's achievements in this area. The past year has seen many achievements by the Gillard government. Not only did we secure minority government in September last year but we have also delivered policies which have provided tax cuts for our working families. On 1 January 2011 we introduced Australia's first paid parental leave scheme, where parents are able to stay home with their newborns or adopted children for 18 weeks at the minimum wage while retaining ties with their workplaces and easing the financial pressure on working families—a policy the opposition leader never would have implemented.

We began our rollout of the National Broadband Network, which will provide faster internet connections and allow those in rural areas to access high-speed internet—something the opposition left our country behind in. The NBN will bring affordable high-speed broadband to all Australians, no matter where they live. The NBN is creating jobs right here, is already being used in Tasmania and Armidale and will shortly be in other states. A new era of communication is arriving with better services and more competitive prices for Australians and Australian businesses. The NBN will change the way we live and work, ensure our economy keeps up with the rest of the world, give our children access to world-class educational resources and give us access to better health care. It will close the distance between our regions and cities and will give local businesses the opportunity to expand into markets anywhere in the world instantly.

The Prime Minister and Minister Conroy announced a $9 billion agreement with Telstra on the NBN. The agreement provides for the reuse of suitable Telstra infrastructure and for Telstra to progressively structurally separate by decommissioning its copper network and broadband HFC network capability during the NBN fibre rollout. This means less disruption to communities and less use of overhead cables.

We will shortly be introducing bills related to the minerals resource rent tax. The taxes on the enormous profits made by big mining companies will go towards building superannuation savings, allowing the government to increase the superannuation guarantee, which every worker is entitled to, from nine to 12 per cent. This means that a 30-year-old worker earning $65,000 annually today will have an extra $108,000 in superannuation savings at retirement. We have also succeeded in separating Telstra into retail and wholesale telecommunications businesses.

After injecting money into the economy, we stopped Australia from feeling the brunt of the global financial crisis. Madam Acting Deputy President Moore, you would be aware of the numerous ambassadors who appeared before the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade who overwhelmingly acknowledged the fiscal competence of our government compared to what they have experienced globally. We implemented the $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan, which injected money into schools infrastructure and the Australian taxpayer. Today we are seeing the rollout of many of these infrastructure projects, and it is amazing to see what schools, local councils and other organisations would have missed out on if it were not for this government's swift action during the global financial crisis.

Though our strong economic management has kept 200,000 extra Australians in jobs, jobs are important to the Australian Labor Party. Since we took office in 2007 almost 750,000 jobs have been created. Almost 190,000 jobs were created in the last year. Nine out of 10 jobs created in the last 12 months are full-time positions. Our jobless rate is 5.1 per cent, compared with that of the US of 9.1 per cent, Canada on 7.2, the UK on 7.7, Germany on seven and New Zealand on 6.5 per cent. So you can see we have achieved in numerous areas and I will talk further in this discussion about a lot of other areas that we have delivered on as a govern­ment. At the start of the GFC Australia had the same unemployment rate as the US. If that were still the case, an extra 480,000 Australians would be jobless rate now. This government's swift and decisive policy response to the GFC helped safeguard tens of thousands of Australian jobs.

In the past year on one of our projects, Building the Education Revolution—a hallmark, in my opinion—I have been privileged to open over 100 school buildings, whether they were libraries, science centres or halls. It has been a marvellous project and is still delivering and being rolled out throughout our state of Queensland, as you would be aware, Madam Acting Deputy President Moore. I have heard nothing but praise during those openings, whether from principals, parents, P&C presidents, teachers or even the children of those schools. They come up and say, 'We thank the federal government for delivering on its promises.' They are overwhelmed by the new hall, the new library or the new science centre they are standing in and the facilities and the benefits they have got. There is no better benefit than the gift of education. For some schools, it was the first time they had a multipurpose hall and the very first time they were able to fit the whole school in one area. For some, it was the first time they had an actual library and no longer had to share a classroom with a room full of books. I have seen new kitchens to complement participation in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, another fantastic government initiative. I have seen new music rooms and dance studios. For some schools, this was the biggest thing to happen in their school in years. As I said, principals, P&C presidents and students alike have praised the BER project and, on many occasions, have asked me to send my regards and thanks to the Prime Minister and Minister Chris Evans for making sure that the new halls, libraries, classrooms and science centres were completed.

I have a quote from the principal of Mount Mee State School. It says: 'The Building the Education Revolution has provided us many opportunities that we would not have received any other way.' There is no other way that a small school like Mount Mee would have at any point in time achieved a building like their new one or any of the other refurbishments that have taken place over the last 12 months. Another example is from Dr Regan Neumann, the principal of Kelvin Grove State College. It says: 'Thank you to the federal government for contributing the funds to make this happen at Kelvin Grove. We know that our place is a better place because of the financial contribution that was made to our college during 2010-11.' There are other examples, such as from Bronwyn Campbell from Albany Hills State School. It says: 'We thank you very much, Senator Furner, because this sort of opportunity has never come to primary schools in many years in education and it has been a wonderful gift to us. We appreciate that.'

The Gillard government also provided assistance to those who needed it in Queensland during the most devastating time of our lives, during the significant floods and Cyclone Yasi, and also in Victoria. We implemented a one-off levy which will assist in rebuilding our disaster affected areas, and those directly affected are exempt from paying the levy. Despite the injections into our economy and the costs of the natural disasters, the Gillard government has stuck to its promises and will deliver a surplus by 2013.

Not only are we delivering for our working families; we are also delivering effective policy. Despite a hung parliament, the government has secured the passage of 130 bills through the House of Representatives. The opposition leader, Mr Tony Abbott, has not provided a positive contribution to this government since becoming leader. We all know his position when it comes to policy and that is the single word of no. He says no to everything, even good policy. He opposed the stimulus package. He opposed all those school halls, libraries, science centres and areas of important needs for education in our schools around the country for the sake of who knows what. He opposed the flood recovery package to help Australians most in need. At their time of most need, he opposed it. He opposed our health reform package. Instead, while in government, he ripped $1 billion out of the health area. He has opposed our GP superclinics, which are seeing quality health care delivered to areas of need. One of those GP superclinics is just down the road from me and it is delivering marvellous outcomes for the residents in the seat of Dickson. The list goes on. There is a continual list. Time does not allow me to talk about all the achievements of this Gillard government. (Time expired)

David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a day when so many hardworking Australians, particularly Western Australians, have travelled up to almost 4,000 kilometres to come to Canberra to express their lack of trust, faith and confidence in this Gillard government, it gives me no pleasure to talk about the trust, integrity and honesty of this Gillard government. Many, many Australians—the vast majority of Australians—have come to the conclusion in the last 12 months that this government is untrustworthy. That this government is not trusted by Australians is almost a universally accepted truth. Why is that? Why is it that Australians do not trust this government or this Prime Minister? Look no further than the calibre of its ministers and the leadership of the Prime Minister.

This Prime Minister has a very significant problem with one important aspect of public life. Some might say that this ability is an imperative in public life, a condition precedent to public life, a fundamental element in public life. And that is the capacity to tell the truth. The capacity to tell the truth is the most fundamental thing any individual can bring to parliament. On Kevin Rudd's leadership, she said, 'There is more chance that I would be full-forward for the Dogs than leading the Australian Labor Party.' She said at the time of the last election, 'We will have an East Timor processing centre,' and of course 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead,' and 'Petrol will be exempt under the carbon tax.' Every Western Australian knows they receive their petrol via a truck weighing more than 4.5 tonnes. Are those truck drivers going to carry that cross? Of course they are not, and the Prime Minister knew it when she said that. There will be a carbon tax on petrol, and people living in regional Australia will be paying it through the nose. She well knows it. The Caltex refinery is one of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide in Australia. They are unhappy with the compensation. What does that mean? It means they will pass the costs on. There will be a cost on petrol.

Of course the crowning glory of this last fortnight was when she said that she has confidence in Mr Craig Thomson. No, she has not. She has no confidence in Craig Thomson, but she has to say she does to cling with her fingernails to power. That is what she has to say. She has got no confidence whatsoever in this man, against whom the facts and the evidence are accumulating day by day, minute by minute. As set out by my colleague Senator Joyce, someone broke in, stole his credit card and forged his signature and then broke back in and put it back again. These are fundamental issues of trust, integrity and honesty. The recent history of this Prime Minister is such that she is failing those tests, day by day, minute by minute, hour by hour.

When we talk about maladministration we talk about one fundamental quality that ministers can bring to the parliament—a degree, a small iota, of competence. That is all we ask for: just a hint, just a sniff, of competence. This government delivers nothing of the sort—just the opposite. Peter Garrett, the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, has established new lows in lack of confidence. The pink batt home insulation scheme was so good that people would fly into Australia, get a phone book and a book of the application forms, fill them out and send them off, the money would arrive in a post office box and then they would fly back to somewhere in South-East Asia. That is how good that scheme was. Then we had to pay billions of dollars to fix up those homes and make them fireproof. The most interesting fact of all is that 10,000 of those installers never lodged a tax return. It was the craziest, stupidest and most poorly administered scheme in the history of good governance. The BER had the same problem. The tax commissioner is flat out trying to find out who is paying tax for the BER. The returns are down.

This government, through its incompetent ministers, has wasted somewhere between $5 billion and $7.5 billion. The Leader of the Government in the Senate mentioned the Super Seasprite in question time today. There were six Super Seasprites—unbelievable! We have the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry giving precedence in Australian public policy to a television program. This is a news-cycle-led government, a government that responds only to Four Corners, so the minister banned live exports to Indonesia with the stroke of a pen, leaving thousands of cattle in pens at ports around Australia having to be fed and managed—$320 million worth of industry chopped off at the knees overnight, with no notice, no consultation and no compensation. The government has no understanding. As I say, the minister brings massive amounts of incompetence to the table. These animals cannot be returned to pasture, because the pastures have faded in the seasonal nature of animal husbandry in the north of Australia. He took no advice from his department. A thousand or more jobs evaporated overnight on the end of his pen, many of them Aboriginal jobs. As precious as those jobs are, he just struck them out. If incompetence were an Olympic sport we would be red-hot favourites for the gold medal. We would be at our TVs, watching day in, day out.

Who is paying for all this mess? Who is paying for the $7 billion that has been just flushed down the drain? All those hard-working Australians who get up out of bed every day, go to work and pay their taxes, and particularly those in the booming, hard-working state of Western Australia—the powerhouse economy. That is who is paying for all of this. What do they get for their trouble? A mining tax. If you are successful under Labor, what does it do with you? It taxes the living daylights out of you. Magnetite is a huge industry for Western Australia. The magnetite industry does not want any handouts—it just wants government off its back—but the mining tax has spelt significant capital raising difficulties for the industry. The government knows this and has set about the task of killing the industry. What does it do to the mining industry? In addition to the mining tax, the government brings in a carbon tax. For people living in regional Australia, their fuel and groceries and everything else they freight into their towns will be much more expensive because every truck over 4.5 tonnes will have to pay the carbon tax. How do they come up with these schemes? This public policy fiasco is just typical.

I turn lastly to the absolute disgrace of border protection. This government cannot even protect our borders. Most of our Navy ships do not work. But, apart from that, we have people coming in in droves. In 2010, 85 boats carrying 4,939 people came in an unauthorised way to our shores. It is costing us $1.75 billion. No trust, no competence.