Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Would you look at this rabble here in this parliament today. This is a government gripped by chaos, hopelessly divided and in a state of panic. You're consumed by yourselves; we've seen it all today and over the past weeks. You're consumed with saving your own jobs, and the Prime Minister himself is doing anything to save his job. I'd give him 11 out of 10, maybe even a 15 out of 10, for backflips; it's an exceptional piece of work he's done this week on the NEG.

Government is difficult. It's hard. It's a challenging job to look out for the interests of all the people that live in this country. But I'll tell you what: I've never seen a more hapless, hopeless bunch that evidently are not up to the challenge of governing Australia for the good of all the people that live here. Look at what they do: they back in the banks and their bad behaviour. They fail to save penalty rates. They give big companies big tax cuts. They attack industry super funds and the workers of this country that join in the great trade union movement, while failing to support a royal commission into the bad behaviour of banks for something over 600 days. They failed to protect vulnerable people and support the private member's bill on payday lending restrictions that was their own legislation. They brought it to the House first. It got scuttled back somewhere else and it took members on this side of the chamber to introduce that legislation again, but they've failed to support it. If you want a better country run by a better government, elect Labor, and Bill Shorten as the Prime Minister of this country.

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