Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. Mr Morrison claimed that Liberal Party ads aired during the national bushfire emergency were simply communicating government policy decisions, despite the ads being authorised by the Liberal Party and despite the host page including a donation button. Why did he claim this when it wasn't true?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All parties communicate policies and messages on behalf of their MPs and their representatives, and promote and communicate those messages. There's nothing unusual about that. Indeed, using as many communication channels as possible to get those messages out is the appropriate thing to be doing, for all of us. Your party does it. Our party does it. Others do it.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ayres, a supplementary question?

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Morrison claimed that he had a comprehensive conversation with Zoey Salucci-McDermott, a bushfire victim in Cobargo. But video footage showed that the only words he said to her were, 'I understand, I understand,' while he turned his back to her and walked away. Why did he claim this when it wasn't true?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have faced enough opposition questions now to know that the context of them can sometimes be distorted in terms of the quotes that might be being used or the basis upon which those quotes are being used. It is, of course, evidence—as I said when I rose in response to the very first question today—that, yet again, those opposite don't come in here to ask policy questions. They don't come in here to ask questions about the issues facing Australians in their jobs and in their lives: the tax that they might pay, the threats that they might face—be they domestic or foreign—or any of those types of challenges. No, they come in just with an agenda of muckraking, of mud throwing—

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Minister, resume your seat. Senator Ayres on a point of order?

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Self-evidently it's relevance. The question was about why Mr Morrison made a claim that wasn't true, and the minister hasn't remotely approached that question.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, I will bring you back to the question. You have the call. You have 16 seconds remaining.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't accept the premise of the senator's question in relation to the assertions he makes. On this side, we're going to proudly continue not to engage in that sort of muckraking but to focus outside of this building, on Australians—their jobs, their families and their lives—and on helping them make— (Time expired)

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ayres, a second supplementary question?

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Morrison claimed that he took the bushfire preparedness advice of former fire commissioners. But they say that he ignored their meeting requests for months and rejected urgent funding requests. Why did he claim this when it wasn't true? Does Mr Morrison still maintain that he has never told a lie in public life?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm sure he does, because he engages comprehensively across public life in Australia and with Australians from all walks of life. I know that the Prime Minister is looking forward to not spending so much of his time in this building answering these types of grubby questions. He's looking forward to returning to getting out there and talking to real Australians: talking to real Australians about our job creation policies, which have created those 350,000 jobs since September; about the record numbers of new apprenticeship commencements lately; about the more than 300,000 people who have been helped into their first home as a result of the new homeownership policies that our government has implemented and Scott Morrison has championed; and about what they're doing with the tax cuts that they've received and how they're using them to get ahead as a family. That's what we'll be doing for real Australians. (Time expired)