Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. No doubt I will continue. The fact of the matter is that this MPI shows once and for all the difference between the two political parties in this chamber. One party—the party on this side—stands up for working Australians. We believe in the value of individuals. We believe in empowering Australians, empowering their families and empowering their communities. All the opposition believe in is enslaving Australians, getting them on the welfare drip and leaving them there—right where they want them, where they're dependent upon those opposite.

The issue here is that this side of the House believes in the innate worth of ordinary Australians and believes that they're smart enough to look after themselves and their own families. Those on the other side think they're too stupid to live their own lives unless those on the other side are telling them how to do it. If there were any doubt about that truth, this MPI puts it to the sword. They cannot help themselves. They have never seen a tax they didn't want to increase, they've never seen an industry they don't want to ban, they've never seen a hope they don't want to crush, and they've never seen a welfare program that they don't believe should be bigger and better, with money stolen from other Australians to remove any hope and prospect that they have of a better future in this nation.

The fact of the matter is—and this is what hurts them the most; they hate this more than anything—that this government has created the Australian moment. The rest of the world is looking to us, in terms of social media code laws, vaccine rollouts, handing this pandemic, and creating jobs and economic opportunities that Australian families can rely on. What's their answer over there? More welfare. How can we make more Australians more enslaved by the state and by the federal government? Have you ever seen a political party—being the Labor Party—that cannot help themselves? Anytime something good happens in Queensland, they say, 'Oh, that's Annastacia Palaszczuk.' Anytime something bad happens in Queensland—and I know you're from Queensland, Deputy Speaker Llew O'Brien, but it is quite often—it's always Scott Morrison's fault. They cannot help themselves. Anything good that happens in New South Wales apparently is just a fluke.

The fact of the matter is that the Labor Party does not believe in Australian workers. You keep going through this over and over again. We have created more jobs, we have created more economic opportunities, and we have created more business start-ups. We have done more to give Australians hope and economic opportunity than any other government. We will continue to do that and we will not be shouted down by those opposite. We will not be silenced by those opposite. We will not let Australian workers continue to be betrayed by those opposite just because they've got the loudest voices and they've got more friends at the ABC. We will continue to come in here and tell the truth. We will continue to advance policies that do nothing more than give Australian families the truth. The fact of the matter is that the only vision that those opposite have is increasing the circle of grievance and continuing the cycle of poverty. How pathetic! (Time expired)

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