Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research (Senator Evans) and the Assistant Treasurer (Senator Arbib) to questions without notice asked by Senator Brandis and the Leader of The Nationals in the Senate (Senator Joyce) today relating to the Labor Government and to small business.

In doing so, I reflect on the day after the events of yesterday. I think the one thing that sent the message home was an email I got at about nine o'clock last night which I am quite happy to show those opposite without the name and address on it. The email is from someone who has supported the Australian Labor Party for 40 years and refuses to do so ever again. I took the liberty of ringing this man last night to talk about it. I will show the email to those opposite, because they do not believe me and will want to see it. This person quite clearly says that this is a dysfunctional, deceptive, dishonourable and economically disastrous government that he will no longer support.

I want to put the email in the context of what happened yesterday and the build-up to yesterday. I will repeat the comments that I know those opposite have been told over the last three weeks. The public are sick and tired of the Australian Labor Party worrying more about their own jobs, particularly the Prime Minister and Mr Rudd, than they worry about the jobs of Australian workers. When some 25,000 Victorian manufacturing workers' jobs are at risk this year, including those at Alcoa in Geelong covering the seat Corangamite, the self-indulgence and the damage done to the political process over the last two weeks will continue for many years. Those opposite know that the wounds of the last two days are covered in tissue paper and not gauze. Those wounds will open up sooner rather than later. No-one in the community and no-one opposite believes that this is the end of the Labor Party's leadership problems. Coming with that is a repeat of the dysfunctionality of this government that we will see again. Nothing has changed from yesterday.

I put into context some of the comments that were made in the run-up to this debilitating leadership dispute, particularly from Victorian backbencher Darren Cheeseman, the member for Corangamite, who told the Sunday Agethat many rank-and-file MPs concluded that Ms Gillard's leadership was now 'terminal'.

Julia Gillard cannot take us to an election. She will decimate the party if she does.

He went on to say:

There's no doubt about it, Julia Gillard can't take the party forward. The community has made its mind up on her.

I think it is in the best interests she should resign.

Further, he said:

Certainly it would be interest-of-party for Julia to stand down and allow Cabinet to select a strong candidate.

Mr Cheeseman knows something more than I do: I thought it was your caucus that chose the leader. But here we have from Mr Cheeseman himself confirmation that the faceless men who run cabinet are indeed the ones who are putting prime ministers in and out. Out of the mouths of babes, the likes of Mr Cheeseman. I want to talk briefly about some of the issues that are still confronting this government. I want to talk about Craig Thomson. I want to talk about New South Wales Police investigations. I want to talk about some comments that Mr Thomson made on 15 February. Mr Thomson repeated a statement:

… I have done nothing wrong. I have fully cooperated with the investigations and I look forward to them concluding. I note that the only investigation to have already concluded, that of the New South Wales Police, did not find any wrongdoing by me.

And yet what happened over the weekend? What was reported in the Australian on 25 February? I will read from the article:

NSW police are closing in on alleged corruption involving Labor MP Craig Thomson and Health Services Union boss Michael Williamson, raiding the premises of graphic designer John Gilleland who is claimed to have secretly provided the pair with credit cards.

So on 15 February we have this man saying it had been concluded and New South Wales Police could find no wrong, and here they are a week and a half later making raids which directly involve Mr Thomson.

This government is completely dysfunctional. This government does not deserve to govern for another day. This government must go to the people and let the people decide who is best placed to run this country. They have a clear difference: hope, reward and opportunity or complete dysfunction. I know which one I will choose. (Time expired)