House debates

Tuesday, 21 August 2018

Statements by Members

Turnbull Government

1:48 pm

Photo of Matt ThistlethwaiteMatt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is in the grip of one of its most severe droughts ever. There are 60 bushfires burning across New South Wales at the moment. Workers and families are struggling with cost-of-living pressure and they've had their penalty rates cut. Pensioners and small business can't afford to switch the electricity on because they can't afford their burgeoning bills. What is the approach of this Turnbull government? They're more concerned about themselves. Chaos reigns within this government. They are more concerned with the civil war going on in the Liberal Party and the revenge that's being extracted by the member for Warringah than the interests of the Australian people.

They have no plans to lift the incomes of Australians who are struggling. They have no plan to deal with energy prices. The fifth generation of their energy plan has been abandoned by the Prime Minister and this government. There are no plans to transition to cleaner fuels and boost renewables. There are no plans to deal with the clogged roads and infrastructure bottlenecks that we face in our major cities. There are no plans to invest in our schools and universities, and they're cutting funding from health care and other areas. They have no plan for Australia. They are only concerned about themselves, whereas we on the Labor side are concerned about and are listening to the Australian people. We've consulted with them. We've developed plans to ensure housing is affordable. We've developed plans to ensure we get electricity prices down and we transition to cleaner fuels. Only Labor is listening to the Australian people. Only Labor has a plan for the future. (Time expired)

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