Chris Pearce (Aston, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

I know that the member for Griffith wanted to be the Prime Minister of Australia, but it has become clear in recent times that he is very interested in running for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations. I realise that the last couple of weeks have not gone well in terms of his job application. What he really needs to do urgently in order to get his application back on track to be secretary-general is jump into the 747, leave Australia quickly again and roam the globe, swan around the globe again, so he can get his application back on track and pretend he is the leader of the free world.

It has often been said that the Australian economy is like a finely-tuned racing car, and the driver needs to be highly skilled. But the Prime Minister and, of course, the Treasurer have ignored the pit crew. They have careered right over the chicanes, they have swerved all over the track, they have ignored the warning flags along the way, and here we are, on the final stretch home and, guess what, we are running on empty. Clearly the drivers—that is, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer—are still on their L-plates. We know that the Labor Party have quite often been on their L-plates over the years, but I think it is important to remind the House that these are not homemade go-karts that are being driven. The economy is a finely-tuned car and, of course, it needs a highly skilled driver, and it is time Australia— (Time expired)

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