Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could the coalition possibly be in more disarray than they are today? You'd think, after nearly a decade of chaos in government and three years in opposition, that they might have developed some policy ideas by now. So far, all we've heard from the Leader of the Opposition is a series of thought bubbles that evaporate into thin air, quite often before lunchtime.

Take last week, for example. We heard that Mr Dutton wanted to have a referendum on deporting dual citizens that break the law. Where have I heard about that before? I heard about Mr Dutton's idea at about 9 am, but it soon became clear that he had not consulted with his party on this one. By lunchtime, this latest insane idea was all but dead.

Speaking of lunchtime, that leads me to another of the coalition's crazy ideas. Mr Dutton and those opposite want the taxpayers to foot the bill for business lunches. They want taxpayer subsidised business lunches. Is that what this country needs? Forget about education, forget about health care, forget about the economy, forget about energy policy—unless, of course, you include their biggest thought bubble of all, nuclear energy. Remember their nuclear energy idea? All the independent experts agree that it'll be slow to deliver, it's too expensive and, in a renewables-rich country like Australia, it's economic insanity. Mr Dutton won't even reveal what cuts he's going to make until after the election.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time has expired, and we'll move to question time.