George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to say ‘nothing’. At least that would mean they were indifferent to the problem. But the reality is that they are making the situation worse. Under the former Prime Minister, the member for Griffith, the government had two programs that dealt with housing affordability: the National Rental Affordability Scheme and the Housing Affordability Fund. I note that both those programs have been abandoned, at least according to comments made during the election.

Electricity costs are on the rise, as I said, with the Regional Social Development Council in Mackay expecting them to go up by at least 13 per cent this financial year. And it will probably be more than that. What are the government doing about that? Again, I would like to say ‘nothing’ because it would be better to be indifferent than to be part of the problem. But they are part of the problem. They want to introduce a carbon tax—a tax that they promised not to introduce and a tax that will hit everyone, pushing up the price of just about everything, notably electricity.

There is a lot of talk about the need for a carbon tax because of certainty, as if the certainty of a carbon tax is some sort of a good thing. You do not accept a bad thing just because it is certain or just to get certainty. If that were the case, you would wake up in the morning, send all your money to the ATO and then shoot yourself, because the only things in life that are certain are death and taxes. This carbon tax will impact families in more ways than one. Not only will it put up the price of everything but it will also put the squeeze on investment and jobs.

In September, the Mackay Whitsunday Regional Economic Development Corporation—about which I have to mention that the Labor candidate for Dawson sits on the board—expressed their concerns about this carbon tax. Again from the Daily Mercury:

Regional Economic Development Corporation … chief executive officer Narelle Pearse … said she was concerned about the effect a carbon tax could have on the Bowen Basin.

“It certainly is a risk for our region. It’s something the government has been talking about for some time,” she said.

Well, it certainly is a risk for our region. It is a risk for our nation and it is a risk for Australian families. A letter to the editor in today’s Daily Mercury pretty much summed up my views. It said, ‘Gillard’s ideas need to be consigned to the scrap heap before she wrecks more of the economy.’ We in the coalition have a better way of dealing with climate and the environment, and it will not cost jobs or family budgets.

Costs are increasing and this government is doing nothing but adding to the problem. As the Prime Minister said recently, the government has pretty much lost its way. And I would say that it continues to lose its way when it does nothing to help ordinary Australian families with the continual cost-of-living increases. I note that the Australian picked up on this the other day. They drew an analogy between the government and that very frustrating TV show, Lost. They said:

Labor’s Lost begins with a plane crash that strands the surviving passengers of Kevin 07 on a tropical island, forcing Labor MPs and the independents to work together to stay alive.

But their survival is immediately threatened by various mysterious entities, including a carbon price, the haunting ghost of Kevin Rudd, an unseen creature that roams the jungle (the “Latham”), and the island’s malevolent, and largely unseen, inhabitants, known as “Focus Groups”.

Being a fan of cult TV shows, that snippet got me thinking of other descriptors for the government in terms of TV shows.

We could look at the rainbow coalition of Labor, extreme Greens and a few Independents. It is certainly not The Brady Bunch but perhaps it is more Diff’rent Strokes. We could look at Senator Bob Brown and the Prime Minister almost arm in arm at recent press conferences and conclude it is The Odd Couple. Then again, perhaps not; it might be more Who’s The Boss? We could look at the promise—the promise that was made to the Australian people before the election—of no carbon tax, a promise that was made by the Prime Minister twice, as has been said in this chamber. And then we could look at the incessant push for such a tax as soon as Labor formed government. That is pretty much the TV show Lie To Me, isn’t it?

We could look at the absolute mess that we are getting into already because of this government on water and the Murray-Darling, on illegal immigration, on the unravelling mining tax or on the NBN white elephant. It is all turning into a mess. So we could be forgiven for thinking those on the other side are a bunch of Muppets, or perhaps we are being run by The Dukes of Hazzard. We could take Senator Doug Cameron at his word about these guys being zombies and wonder if we are in The Twilight Zone or perhaps if The Addams Family are in charge. We could look at the fact that this government thinks it is going to solve the illegal immigration problem through East Timor when East Timor does not agree with that. The government must be living on Fantasy Island.

But the big issue of the day is of course banks and rising interest rates and the fact that the government has done nothing to counter the problem of them putting interest rates above the RBA cash levels. What we have had from the government is a bit more than nothing: a lot of talk, a lot of bluster, a lot of barking at the gate. We have a Treasurer who has issued more than 30 separate warnings to the banks not to raise interest rate levels above RBA levels, and every warning has been ignored. It struck me then that the perfect TV show for the government is Get Smart. We have our own Maxwell in the Treasurer himself. Cornered by the four big banks all threatening to pull the rates trigger, he puffs out his chest and says: ‘Would you believe that I have this place surrounded with a SWAT team, an armoured personnel carrier and a dozen killer attack dogs? No? Would you believe a security guard, a Mini Moke and an angry pit bull? How about an old lady, a stroller and a poodle?’ The Treasurer is the Maxwell Smart of Australian politics and, for all the bluff and bluster, his government is doing absolutely nothing about the banks and their reprehensible actions.

We have a government that is lost in a mess, doing nothing but adding to the problems that Australian families are facing. We can only hope that the crossbenchers supporting this mob see the light soon, or it is going to be Mission: Impossible to turn this ship around.

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