David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak to the subject of this MPI, because this is a government whose Prime Minister cannot control his party—a Prime Minister who is unable to manage this parliament and a government whose ministers cannot decide who is in control. Let's cast our minds back to some 12 months ago. At that moment in time, it appeared that the member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull, as he first lunged for the crown, was at the height of his powers. At that moment in time, many Australians imagined that they were getting a Prime Minister who was a conviction politician. They imagined that they were getting a Prime Minister who was going to reposition the Liberal Party on key issues like climate change and marriage equality. Hope started to flutter in the hearts of progressives around Australia. Well, 12 months later, those dreams have been shattered as, time and again, we have seen this government fail.

We first saw the new Prime Minister come into office and immediately kowtow to the far Right of his party. He made no attempt to lead the direction of his government; he has instead surrendered. He has surrendered to the right wing of his party in exchange for the throne he sits on—and you can see how uncomfortable that is. You see a Prime Minister, who, time and time again, has used vaulting language to describe the most pitiful proposals. Do we remember the greatest reform in the history of our Federation? Do we remember the idea that states would start to engage in taxation? As one wag said at the time: 'This is an idea that has lasted for less time than the average hangover.' Do we remember the vacuous slogans that he promised to get rid of? And then, of course, he launched 'jobs and growth'. Do we remember the GST? Do we remember the great reform that he was going to launch this country into? It was a tax reform program that came out at Christmas and died an ignoble death.

This is a government which in fact has had nothing to offer the Australian people—not convictions, not reform. But it has offered us entertainment. It has offered us the entertainment of a government that cannot control the parliament. It has offered us the entertainment of a government that seeks to condemn itself. Now we see before us the lively debates in question time between the Prime Minister and the former Prime Minister. We now see their divisions in open display, and they are delightful. A group of persons who came to this place saying that there was a budget emergency have made the debt so very worse. A group of people who came to this place saying that getting rid of a first-term Prime Minister was a disgrace have done that themselves. There is nothing left that makes you any different from a bunch of clowns roaming the body politic.

An eight-week election campaign was how they were going to bring themselves out of the morass they found themselves in. Let me give a big shout-out at this moment to the Greens for enabling that double dissolution election. What a triumph it was for you—a campaign where you offered the Australian people neither policy nor hope, where every single slogan that had brought you to government in 2013 had already been turned to dust—a government that now stands in this place and in this debate bereft of credibility. All the member for Wentworth can now do is survive week to week. Is it any wonder that this is a government that wants the parliament to meet as little as possible? Is it any wonder that this is a Prime Minister who has no legislation for this parliament to consider? There is no reform agenda and there is no reason this Prime Minister would want this parliament to meet, because of course what happens when parliament meets? Liberal Party MPs get to talk to one another, and that is ripe with danger.

We saw a few moments ago the Liberal Party backbench apparently rise from their tomb. We on this side had thought they had died a death many years ago, but suddenly today you were enlivened because you heard Tony Abbott speak and your little right-wing hearts burst with excitement! And suddenly, instead of lying there like zombies, you rose up and slammed your tables because you found in your ranks a man who in fact does have some fight in him. He may even believe in something. What a striking contrast to your Prime Minister! And so you came to life, and we can see the flags flying over there as you remember those glory days when you had a Prime Minister who believed in something. The next few months are going to be quite a remarkable sight as we watch this play out in your ranks. But there are a few things we know for sure: no matter how that debate ends you will not believe in anything and you will not accomplish anything. (Time expired)

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