House debates

Thursday, 9 February 2017

Statements by Members

Prime Minister

1:51 pm

Photo of Pat ConroyPat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the Prime Minister's deep identity crisis. Mostly, it pertains to which US President he is most alike. Last year, we saw 'Abraham Turnbull', where the Prime Minister had this whole narrative of how he grew up in a log cabin and was the worker's friend. But yesterday we saw 'Malcolm Trump'—the Prime Minister as the billionaire saying, 'Know you place.' The truth is that this Prime Minister is deeply out of touch and he leads a government that is deeply out of touch. You do not have to look any further than housing affordability, where Prime Minister Turnbull's one policy suggestion is, 'Have rich parents.' What a joke. We had the former Treasurer saying, 'You should get a good job,' because that has never occurred to anyone. Then we had the Deputy Prime Minister—that joke—say that all five million Sydneysiders should move to Tamworth. It is a bit hard to be a nurse at the RPA or a police officer out at Campbelltown if you are commuting from Tamworth. Then we had the member for Petrie, who I am glad is in the chamber, suggesting we move back to 1995 to buy a house.

The truth is that the government are deeply out of touch. They do not understand the challenges and struggles of all Australians. This Prime Minister is the most out-of-touch public figure we have seen since Marie Antoinette.