Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

No, I do. The party of Menzies and Howard, the alternative government, the party that has been the government of this country for the most number of years since World War II, has been reduced to this. They could pick any topic to debate for this hour. They could pick the cost of living or the economy—we got through a whole question time and didn't hear about the cost of living or the economy. They could pick tax cuts—well, the government's tax cuts. They oppose them. They could pick industry policy. That's actually the portfolio of the shadow minister at the table, the member for Flinders. They could pick the first anniversary of their policy to ban working from home—we could talk about that for an hour! Instead, they bring on a debate founded on a giant lie. They choose this, a giant, steaming untruth.

During question time, as they just kept coming back to this well, up that end we were saying: 'Leave the poor dead horse alone. It's dead.' They are trying to convince Australians that there's some great conspiracy, that somehow the government plans to help repatriate people who chose to go to Syria with ISIS. It's simply not true. I will say it very slowly and clearly, so it might even get through to them. The government's position is clear and longstanding. The government is not providing assistance to these people to come back from Syria. The government is not repatriating these individuals from Syria. As you'd say to a child: 'Just because you say it, doesn't make it true. Just because you say it over and over again, doesn't make it true.'

I'm not sure what's sillier, that the Leader of the Opposition chose to move a suspension of standing orders, disrupting the whole business of the parliament, to introduce a private member's bill that he clearly hadn't read, or that the shadow leader of the opposition over there is bringing on this debate founded on a mega falsehood. He has just been appointed—he's had a few appointments this term—I'm going to get the words right—the shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability. It may as well be 'sovereign citizens' as they might be the only people who believe this weird conspiracy theory.

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