Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a member of the federal parliament and as the member for Ryan, which I have the great privilege of representing in the national parliament of Australia, I simply cannot let some of the remarks of the Independent member for Calare pass without their being totally rejected and repudiated. I do not know how the member for Calare can come into this chamber and say that this country is not a democracy when he has come to this parliament by virtue of the votes of his constituents. What is the member for Calare saying? That Australia is akin to North Korea? That Australia is akin to Cuba? That Australia is akin to Myanmar? It is outrageous of him to make that sort of inference. He should hang his head in shame as an Independent member of the federal parliament of Australia for making that kind of inference. His constituents should give him a big whack at the next election. I hope that his fellow Independent, Mr Windsor, the member for New England, will not go into such ridiculous, absurd and preposterous language. I hope that the member for Calare has not got too much of the Labor Party bug because, if he does, he will be a very sick man.

Anyway, it is very disappointing that the Leader of the Opposition, in his remarks here in the parliament in this MPI debate, tries to condemn the government for its democratically elected responsibilities. Of course, we were elected by the people of Australia in an overwhelming fashion. The people of Australia spoke. They spoke with one strong, loud, clear voice. They very kindly and very generously returned me as the federal member for Ryan with a very strong two-party preferred outcome, and I want to thank them for their confidence in me. I will continue to represent them in the right spirit and with great commitment. I am sure I speak on behalf of all my colleagues in the coalition when I say that they will continue to uphold the confidence that their respective constituents gave to them.

But this matter of public importance raised by the Leader of the Opposition really does smack of intense desperation to become the Prime Minister of this country. The Leader of the Opposition cannot stand here in the parliament of his own volition as a man with a very good education—in fact, I think he graduated from the University of Oxford, much like the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and they may even have spent some time together at Oxford. It is quite unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition did not acquire some of the very good ideas that the British Prime Minister has, which he has put into policy in his country. I will give one example to the parliament of the people of Australia: the British Prime Minister talks about how it is very important for people in the UK to get the opportunity of a job and about how important job security is—as opposed, of course, to what the Leader of the Opposition in this country is talking about. He is trying to flip-flop all over the place. He has no ideas, no policies of any substance, but he comes into this parliament with this matter of public importance that talks about a government that is supposedly arrogant, that is only concerned about itself.

Let me tell the Leader of the Opposition, the Labor Party and—through you, Mr Deputy Speaker—the people of Australia and of course my constituents in Ryan what this government is really interested in. This government is interested in national prosperity. This government is interested in creating jobs for young people. This government is interested in creating jobs for people throughout the length and breadth of this great country. We have had incredible growth. We have had incredible opportunities for young people, women and disabled Australians to get into the workforce. During the 10 years of the Howard government, the economy has grown by some 3.5 per cent.

Let me just make a comparison with some of the other economies of the region. This is a very good example of the leadership and the stewardship of the Howard government in terms of its focus. Its focus has been on developing policies that will maximise the opportunities of Australians. Let us just compare a country like Japan. It has had four recessions. Singapore has had three recessions. Hong Kong has had three recessions. Taiwan has had two recessions. Korea has had a recession. Our good friend the United States went into recession in 2001. The Asian region of course suffered a financial crisis in 1996-97.

When this government came to office, it focused very much on policies that would make a difference to the people of Australia, to the families, businesspeople and students of Australia—to the families of Ryan, the businesspeople of Ryan and the students of Ryan, who are studying at the University of Queensland. This government is implementing policies that are making a difference to the men and women of Australia. Our focus is on what counts: the economy, jobs and important issues of employment and national defence; as opposed, of course, to members of the opposition and the Leader of the Opposition. He comes into this parliament, trying to muscle up—as the Leader of the House said—and trying to be someone that he is not. He is not at heart a Lathamesque figure. He is not at heart someone who can muscle up and stand shoulder to shoulder with someone like the former member for Werriwa. He cannot come into this place and pretend he is someone that he is not.

Australian people can see right through this. The Australian people get it right when they go to the polls, and they will see through someone who tries to be someone that they are not. As I said, the people of Australia re-elected the Howard government in October 2004 with a very comprehensive mandate to govern in the national interests of this country. As part of that mandate, they gave the coalition parties a majority in the Senate.

For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone in the opposition, any members who come to this parliament, including the members who are elected independently and do not belong to any political party, can come into this parliament and say that they have not been legitimately and democratically elected. Of all people in this chamber, the Independent members should acknowledge the democratic voice of the people. The people of Australia have spoken. They have spoken very clearly. They have spoken very comprehensively. They gave the Australian government an opportunity to lead the economy, to make decisions that would make a difference to their lives. Until the opposition get any inkling of this, they are condemned to stay in opposition for many more years to come, because, quite frankly, the people of Ryan and the people of Australia are interested in good governments—strong governments.

I will continue to represent my constituency in this parliament by pointing out how the Leader of the Opposition, the members opposite and indeed the two members of the Independent minor caucus come to this parliament and carry on with all kinds of over the top, extreme language. They say that we are a Cuba; we are a North Korea; we are a Myanmar. They ask: where is the voice of democracy in this country? For goodness sake, get a life. Get a reality check. You of all people come into this chamber, elected by men and women of your constituency, and you talk about this country not being a democracy. That is absolutely absurd.

I want to talk about this matter of public importance. The Leader of the Opposition is someone who—as the Leader of the House has said—has developed a reputation in the country for being a man of probity, a man of goodwill, a man of high regard, a man of popularity. Most regrettably, he is now in this job as the Leader of the Opposition for the second time. With his desperation to become Prime Minister of this country, he has fallen very far short of the high standards that I would like to think he has for himself. He comes into this parliament trying to portray himself as someone with the credibility and the credentials to lead the opposition back into government. I am sorry to say that the Australian people will certainly see through this. No wonder he is quite desperate, with the likes of Bill Shorten and Greg Combet on his heels and other members of the opposition such as the member for Griffith, Mr Rudd, and the member for Lalor, Ms Gillard, snapping away at his heels, believing that they can do a better job than he can.

I am sure that some of them might get that opportunity, but it is the primary interest to the coalition parties to focus on the things that are important to everyday Australians. The Australian economy is one of some $1 trillion. It is imperative that we focus on things that count, such as employment issues. Figures have just been released that show that this country has an unemployment rate of 4.9 per cent—the lowest in three decades. The Leader of the Opposition and the Independents are not focused on how good that is for the people of Australia. They do not comment on the policies that make a difference; they come in here instead with this wishy-washy matter of public importance and talk about things that are of little interest to the Australian people rather than about their families, the economy, education and water. These are top-drawer issues for the people of Australia, and I want to encourage my colleagues in the government to keep their eye on the important matters. (Time expired)

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