Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is one line in this motion by the member for Bruce that sums up the absolute desperation of the motion's contents, and that is the line that says that the Australian government has racked up over one trillion dollars worth of debt 'with nothing to show for it'—intellectual dishonesty throughout this motion. What an insult to the people of Australia. What an insult to the hardworking men and women, those frontline workers who went to work every single day and put themselves in the face of danger. We have 'nothing to show for it', according to Labor.

Look at the state of our nation's health. You only need to look across to the United States, India and Great Britain to see what they are facing. It is through the hard work of this government, the early intervention by this government, that we do not have tens of thousands of deaths, just like those countries across the ocean. What an insult to those men and women and children who locked themselves away for weeks and months at a time to say that we have 'nothing to show' for it.

Then there is the economic recovery. What an insult from the member for Bruce to those men and women who continued to work from home or continued to go to work, where they could, and keep our economy going; who were resilient; who changed their business habits to keep employing, through the government's JobKeeper scheme, those employees who had been with them for years, if not decades. What an insult to the men and women who kept going, despite not knowing where this pandemic was taking us.

That is the way that Labor wants you to think. Labor need to think about who they want to be as a party and as people. Are you going to be the person who says to your grandchild in 30 years time, 'I worked with the federal government to ensure that our country got through this pandemic,' or are you going to be that person who says, 'I kicked the country and the people while they were down, and I filed notices of motion to say the government have done nothing over the past 12 months.' The member for Bruce should be not only embarrassed by but ashamed of this notice of motion. He should be apologising to the people of Australia for not recognising the work that they have done over the past 12 months.

If we want to look at the real facts, unemployment is almost down to where it was prior to the pandemic. There are over 100,000 more jobs available than pre the pandemic—and yet the member for Bruce says we've done nothing and have nothing to show for it. Consumer confidence is at a 12-year high and job vacancies at a two-decade high. The intellectual dishonesty oozes through this notice of motion.

Hang your head in shame, Member for Bruce, because Australians are better than that. They're not stupid. They can see what this government is doing and what this government has done, and last night is a perfect example of that. We are providing hope. That's what politicians do. We provide hope for our nation and we provide direction, and that is what we will continue to do for all our people. Whether you vote Labor, whether you vote Independent or whether you vote coalition, we will be here for you, providing those supports, just as we have done over the past 12 months. Once again I say to the member for Bruce: hang your head in shame and apologise to the people of Australia.

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