Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

Okay. Here's one of them, the Ever Ulysses, off the coast of the Philippines—legit—in the middle of the Indian Ocean! Here's another one, Synergy Keelung, to the east of New Zealand. If the Prime Minister thinks that you could stand on the deck at Port Botany and see a ship that's in the middle of the Indian Ocean, then he has a very powerful set of binoculars. I can just see the Prime Minister standing there at Port Botany, saying, 'I can see New Zealand from here'. What a complete load of rubbish. The Patricks website proves that this is simply untrue. But the most despicable thing about all of this is that this motion says that:

… vital medical supplies are being disrupted, at a time when they are needed the most …

Those opposite know that that is simply not true—to say that Australians are not getting medical supplies is simply not true. I read from a Sydney Morning Herald article on 30 September, which says:

The head of Patrick Terminals has admitted the industrial dispute roiling Australia's ports has not led to any containers of medical supplies being held up …

Elizabeth de Somer, chief executive from Medicines Australia, says: 'There are no shortages related to this action'. That is the voice of the industry telling the truth about this dispute—yet those opposite want to play on the anxiety of cancer patients, believe it or not, during a pandemic, and say that Australian workers are holding up their drugs. It's despicable. It's downright disgraceful, and, on behalf half of the workers that I represent, I'm not going to put up with it. You've got to stop telling lies about Australian workers. (Time expired)

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