House debates Questions without Notice
Howard Government
Bob McMullan Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Federal/State Relations
3:16 pm
My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. Is the Acting Prime Minister aware that in the last 48 hours at least six of his cabinet colleagues used ‘blame the states’ as an excuse for effective action in response to dental health, disability support, Indigenous policing, schools, roads and journalists’ protection? When will the government accept that Australians are sick of that blame game?
Mark Vaile Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister
I thank the member for his question. Twenty million Australians expect their national government to govern this nation in the national interest, and if there are circumstances not in the national interest in this country which need to be identified then they expect us to identify them.
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell, Australian Labor Party
Ms Vamvakinou interjecting
Mark Vaile Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister
Just as this government has shouldered the responsibility for the last 11 years of fixing up the mess that the Labor Party left us after being in office for 13 years—and while we have a bunch of state Labor governments dragging the nation down—we will continue to identify their fallacies and what they are doing in their policies. The Labor Party, led by the new Leader of the Opposition, can squark all they like about the ‘blame game’. The reality is that Australians want this country run properly, whether it is at a federal level or at a state level or at a local government level. They expect the dollars that we are deploying on their behalf to be spent wisely—
Brendan O'Connor Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations
Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting
Mark Vaile Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister
and they expect the country to be run properly. We have continued, over the last 11 years—
Bernie Ripoll Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation
Mr Ripoll interjecting
Mark Vaile Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister
in the face of opposition at every turn from the Australian Labor Party, to fix up the mess that they left us. If the state Labor governments continue to leave a mess behind them, we will continue to talk about it because, at the end of the day, we are expected to run this country in the national interest.
So, if the member for Fraser wants to ask questions about why ministers continue to blame state governments when they are wrong and it is their area of responsibility, we are going to continue to do that. We will hold the Labor Party to account for the mess that they left this country in 11 years ago and the hard work that we have had to do to fix it up. We will hold to account the state Labor governments in Australia, who continue to drag this country down when the rest of the country is trying to move forward. So, in answer to the member’s question, we will continue to identify bad policy and bad decisions whenever they stick their heads up.
Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.