Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today on this matter of public importance. What we heard from the Abbott government was more spin than you would get from a whirling dervish. They cannot tell the truth, even on a day when their poll results have hit absolute rock bottom. Never before in this country have we had a Prime Minister as unpopular as Mr Abbott. Since Australia Day, after the Prime Minister's 'knightmare' backlash from the Australian public in knighting Prince Philip, the chaos, the division, the dysfunction and the mistrust eating at the heart of the coalition government have been well and truly on display. It culminated this morning in a spill motion where 39 MPs and senators, a majority of backbenchers, voted for a spill motion to have a new leader—any leader—anybody other than the Prime Minister, Mr Abbott. Surely, the Prime Minister himself admitted to this chaos, division, dysfunction and mistrust today in his own government when he said after the spill motion, 'Good government starts today.' What an insult to Australian voters! Australian voters had a right to good government from September 2013. But no, 18 months later, Mr Abbott finally says, 'I'll have a go at good government from now on.' What a disgrace!

Almost 40 people in the Liberal Party—because I believe even a Liberal member is capable of filling out a ballot paper without getting it wrong—deliberately wanted anybody other than the Prime Minister. What confusion we saw.

What we see from the Abbott government and the ministers in this place is that they are living in a parallel universe. They are claiming everything is fine. Clearly things are not fine when the Prime Minister of the country commits to good government from today. Clearly things are not fine when at least 39 backbenchers say they want anyone except the current Prime Minister.

It is one thing, perhaps even expected, that a conservative tea party government like the Abbott government would let down low-income earners and Australian workers and would put trade unions offside. However, this government has managed to get everyone offside with its bucketful of broken promises, back flips and captain's picks.

Doctors are out campaigning against the mistrust they have in the government. Perhaps the PM has not been into a doctor's surgery lately, but let me assure him that in my doctor's surgery I recently saw not just one notice opposing the Abbott government's cuts but three notices and a petition. I can assure those opposite that the Abbott government's cuts to Medicare were the talk of that waiting room.

Are the Prime Minister and his team listening? Of course they are not, because they are committed still to cutting Medicare. The AMA is not convinced, because their campaign continues. Turning to business groups, the Abbott government has even managed to put off its mates at the big end of town. They are asking: you have done the big backflip on PPL, but what about the levy? What are they being met with? Absolute silence. So, now, business groups, which are the Abbott government's traditional mates, are offside. What about farmers? What is the National Party doing? We have been suffering drought in this country. The PM went out on a farm but again there were just empty promises. We have seen nothing but poor policy delivered in that area.

The chaos, the division, the dysfunction and the mistrust will continue, because that genie is out of the bottle, and once the genie is out of the bottle it cannot be put back. Those low polls and the backflips and broken promises of the Abbott government will continue, and they will continue to live in their parallel universe trying to pretend that everything is somehow fine in the country, when all of us know better, until the next election. A change in government is what this country needs, and it needs it sooner rather than later.