Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Each time we have said, 'Who is the best person for the job?' On this occasion, we do not believe that it merits suspending standing orders when it is clear that it is an outstanding Australian, Mr David Gonski, who deserves the support of this chamber, who was the ASX chairman and who has chaired everything from the Sydney Theatre Company through to Coca-Cola, has been the Chancellor at the University of New South Wales and has provided advice to government on a range of different things from e-health to education. He is an absolutely outstanding individual and there can be no possible reason that we should call into question his appointment, and certainly no possible reason that we should suspend standing orders to do it.

We are not going to waste, and we ought not to waste, valuable time in this parliament when there are so many other issues in the community and a range of so many jobs in each electorate that people would happily talk about. Yet there is only one job that those opposite think is worth talking about, and that is a job for a Liberal. Why should that be the priority over any other job that should be discussed in this chamber? We know that employment is challenging. We know that in Victoria, for example, there are challenges in the manufacturing industry, and the industry minister talked about a number of those issues. We are working damn hard over this side of the House to make sure that those people get supported, but would you ever have a debate on those issues in here? Not once. Would you ever have a question on those issues in here? The only job that they can get worked up about is one for a Liberal colleague that they did not even support for the top job here. I think there has to be a bit of irony. The Leader of the Opposition—

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