House debates Matters of Public Importance
Albanese Government
Michael McCormack Riverina, National Party
3:29 pm
At the moment, in the government, there is much more than an Agatha Christie novel going on. It's a whodunnit: who leaked, or who misplaced, the talking points? Some are suggesting the Butler did it! But we don't actually know. But I tell you what: it makes for very interesting reading on this, the fifth budget day by the member for Rankin.
What we see here is the main message: 'We will deliver a responsible budget for working Australians, focused on relief, resilience and reform.' I think not. Moreover, the Australian public thinks not, as well.
Then there's this subheading, in bold, just so that it stands out, and it reads:
HAVE YOU BROKEN A PROMISE
It should carry a question mark, but grammar has never been the strong point of those opposite. What it should actually say is: 'You have broken a promise,' because each and every one of them—particularly the Prime Minister—has broken a promise.
The first dot point under 'Have you broken a promise'—lack of question mark—is:
The right decision is to do the right thing with the right policies at the right time
I agree with that—tick! The second dot point is:
Young people, and their parents and grandparents are worried they will never own their own home
I agree with that, too—a tick for that.
I would suggest Labor members don't go out to the doors and repeat this next dot point:
They are frustrated with the intergeneration all equity.
I'm not quite sure what that actually means, but don't repeat it. Anyway, the next is:
Any responsible government must take these issues seriously.
Well, this isn't a responsible government; it's actually an irresponsible government, and it has been for four years. It has let Australians down so often.
Now, up the top—and it might give Cluedo, or whoever is investigating this, some sort of point and guide as to who might have misplaced it—it says either '6,060' or '6,000'—I don't know which—'social and affordable homes since elected'. It also then adds '23,000 in planning'. Well, that's a long way short of the one million, which then became 1.2 million, homes that Australia said it would build—a long, long way short.
The government's broken promises and failure to deliver for regional Australians is the topic of the matter of public importance debate today, and never has there been a better time to discuss this important topic. We heard the Prime Minister today so often saying that he has not broken his promises, when he actually has, on numerous occasions, whether it came to energy relief, whether it came to the number of houses he was going to build—whatever the case might be.
We also heard, interestingly enough, from the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Now, she was talking about the Inland Rail, and that is yet another broken promise by this broken government. When she said that ministers should go and hang their heads in shame—any of those before her responsible for this project—I tell you what: she's not in agreement with the now premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan, because it was on 16 March 2018 that Jacinta Allan, then a Victorian minister responsible for infrastructure and transport, actually said this. She thanked the Deputy Prime Minister—I wonder who that could be?
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