Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week, we saw the chaos that ensues when the Liberals and Nationals have to come up with actual policies. Since the last election, they've only come up with three: they've committed to undoing all of Labor's good work on improving wages and conditions, they want to raid your super to inflate house prices, and they want to spend $600 billion of your money on their mates' nuclear power plants. That is the grand sum of their plans for the economy—lower wages, lower super and bankrupting the country to pay for their nuclear money pit.

In this policy vacuum, shadow ministers have begun freelancing on policy. I don't blame them, because it's hard to campaign on no, no, no all the time. So yesterday the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, one of the most senior coalition members, come up with the bright idea of flogging off Jetstar, presumably so that their mates in Qatar or another foreign capital fund can purchase it. It's clear to me why that is a ridiculous idea. Breaking a wing off our national airline and flogging it to the highest bidder would be worse for workers, worse for passengers and worse for our national sovereignty. Thankfully, Senator McKenzie thought ahead and avoided all these issues by not telling anyone about her policy before she announced it.

Mr Dutton's policy platform is like a dinner party hosted by a bloke who couldn't even boil water. The leader has nothing to offer, so guests are rolling up with their own rancid policy dishes, and, sadly, it's the Australian people who have to tuck into them.