Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think that the member for Barker's speech proves one thing, and that's that there's been a softening up of the coalition's shadow frontbench. And, can I say, it's been softened up because national security is not a game. National security is not a space for political posturing. National security is not a space for political theatre. It's serious. And this is a government, on this side of the chamber, who takes it—as it should—seriously.

When it comes to this cohort, and, indeed, when it comes to all circumstances, this is a government that follows the advice of the security agencies, because we have confidence in those agencies. This is a government that follows the law, as we are required to do. This is a government that, because of those two things, keeps Australia and Australians safe every day. And this place, this institution and this country deserve better than what we have seen from the opposition today, because, if the opposition cared about national security, they wouldn't have put forward the bill that they put forward earlier today, a bill that the member for Forrest said would shut the gate.

What do we find when that bill comes through? What do we find when we look at the fine print? We find that the bill would only shut the gate on pilots getting into the cockpit to fly a commercial air flight. We find that the bill would shut the gate on, and criminalise the work of, flight attendants pushing a trolley down the aisle. We find that the bill would criminalise, and shut the gate on, the work of baggage handlers loading suitcases onto the conveyor belt. And we find that the bill would shut the gate on people working in humanitarian aid in regions where people need the most help.

If the opposition cared about national security, they wouldn't be ignoring the legal framework that the coalition itself created. They wouldn't be ignoring the Constitution. They wouldn't be changing the position that they followed and the approach that they followed when they were in government. Certainly, if the opposition cared about national security, they wouldn't be asking questions in question time about intelligence advice that they know very well is not to be made public.

I understand that the opposition has been in a shambles. I understand that they need to put on a show. I understand that this has been the fundamental reason behind their behaviour in this chamber and their fundamental lurch to the Right. But let's call this out for what it is. It is a desperate attempt to impersonate Pauline Hanson. It is a desperate grab for votes that they have lost because of their disunity, their dysfunction and the mess that's resulted from focusing only on themselves.

When the now Leader of the Opposition stood up, in his first address to the public, he said this:

We're in this position because we didn't stay true to our core values …

Yet the Leader of the Opposition, in his first days in this place, has not driven a traditional Liberal values based agenda. He has driven the agenda of One Nation. Not only does that not support a focus on national security; not only does that not support a focus on the Australian people; not only does that not focus on the core things that people in our community are raising, day in, day out, like the cost of living, like housing and like health care—what that means is that social cohesion and community safety go out the window for more cheap politicking.

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