Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Empathy will do. That is all I have been getting, by the way. Not much sympathy; plenty of empathy.

The whole point is that it is the same old, same old Labor government. For the whole 20-plus years I have been here it has always been the same old, same old Labor government. They have now fluked a second term, and it is still the same old, same old Labor government in their second term. Nothing has changed, nothing has been learned.

Spin trumps substance—we saw that in the Governor-General’s reply speech. What a droning reply to the Governor-General’s speech that was. It was full of cliches, trivia, fillers and repeats. This is the same old, same old, where the truth is trumped by lies. We saw that with the Prime Minister before the election when she said that there would not be a carbon tax. Now we have a carbon tax policy this side of the election, thanks to the Greens. The same old, same old; when factional power rules over merit for ministry promotions.

We see it here right across the front bench. Time does not permit me to go through each one of them, but let’s just say that Senator Sherry was overlooked for a failed climate change minister. And a minister once called in this place a political hoon, who was at the centre of the pink batts disaster, has not lost his ministry at all. In fact, I think he got promoted because he backed the Prime Minister. Of course, I am talking about Senator Arbib. And so, on it goes. I see Kate Lundy is on the front bench—Senator Lundy, for goodness sake.

The whole appointment of the ministry was a shambles. And the announcement of the ministry was a shambles. They left out the ministry of education; they spread it over three portfolios, which is just a recipe for disaster, turf wars and confusion within the public service. And we have two cabinet ministers who are there by the grace of blackmail. If one of them should ever have got the sack, it is Mr Garrett. It is a dysfunctional administration and it just gets worse, with its coalition and the selling of its soul to the Greens.

Senator Forshaw, wait till the workers of the western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne get a load of you, the Labor Party, selling your soul to the Greens—to a bunch of wackos who are after their jobs. The soul of the Labor Party is the workers. Give me a nod on that if nothing else. The Labor Party has sold its soul to the Greens for the sake of power, and the Greens are off to a flying start. Social policy is up and running on euthanasia, an issue that is seminal to the Greens. They are now at the heart of the government’s policy-making. They will dictate policy, too, and it is quite easy to see how they have been dictating policy to date—for example, same-sex couples. They have been just as diligent in the economic area—for example, the return of the carbon tax and the mining tax. I heard Senator Ronaldson raise the issue of death duties. The Greens have always been very open about this policy. Labor has always been desirous of it, but now they have found their scapegoat to introduce death duties. This is one to watch, even post July.