Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to second this important motion. It must be dealt with now. I think there is not a person in this building, be they amongst our colleagues, be they on the opposite side, be they in the press gallery or be they in the general gallery, who does not know what is going on. We have seen over the last fortnight the calcification of the aorta of the Australian government. It goes to the heart of what is going on. Confidence is being undermined amongst the general public because this government is not getting on with the job. It can pass bills through this place but, out there, Australians are looking with bewilderment at the antics of the government in this case. They are looking at the government with bewilderment because the government is dysfunctional. We must suspend standing orders now and have the matter dealt with. The Prime Minister has to rebuild confidence and trust with the Australian people.

Jerry Seinfeld said there is no such thing as a day of fun for the whole family. Today we have seen the dysfunctionality of the whole family over there. We have seen the parade of roosters. The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations came up and gave us a parade for question time. We saw the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government come up and give us a little parade for question time.

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