Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Vocational Education) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker—and can I just say, on your behalf: that was an outrageous list of accusations that the member just made against you, Deputy Speaker. I am sure you did not do any of those things whatsoever, so I am very happy to defend your reputation in this place from those accusations.

It is just over a year since that momentous moment when the current Prime Minister marched into a courtyard not far from here and announced that he was calling on the then Prime Minister—who has continued to be nothing but helpful since!—to call a spill in the party room. There were some pretty significant things said by the current Prime Minister on that occasion. In particular, he said:

It is clear enough that the government is not successful in providing the economic leadership we need.

The Prime Minister set the bar for his leadership and his government. So what has happened in the 12 months since then?

I have to say that it reminds me, particularly, of an episode of the Get Smart TV show—I do not know if all members in the House remember it. But you might remember those particular sessions where Smart would be up against the wall, and he would say to the baddies, 'I have got this building surrounded by 100 heavily armed federal police officers', and they would look at him in great disbelief, and he would say, 'Would you believe 50 police officers with a couple of dogs and slingshots?' and they would look at him in disbelief, and he would say, 'Well, what about a couple of dogs who look pretty cranky outside the building?' That is what we have seen over the last 12 months from this Prime Minister.

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