Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Prime Minister. I refer him to the statement made by the member for New England yesterday. He said: 'If they want to work in a more bipartisan way, I'm not going to knock that.' Prime Minister, why won't you listen to the member and, more importantly, to farmers and rural communities and convene a cross-party drought cabinet to adequately respond to the growing drought crisis?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The members of the Labor Party who sit on this front bench here can't even operate functionally in a shadow cabinet, let alone actually participate in an actual cabinet, at the end of the day. We learnt today, with Labor historian Troy Bramston writing in The Australian, that a Labor frontbencher, a member of the shadow cabinet which the Leader of the Opposition leads—I don't know who it was, but I'm happy to take suggestions; I am sure they will be made to journalists later.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Relevance: it is a serious question about the drought. He should respond in a serious manner.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So far the Prime Minister is relating his material to the question about a cross-party group. I am listening to the Prime Minister.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The quote read, from a Labor frontbencher, referring to the Leader of the Opposition:

For a guy who wanted to be leader so bad, and couldn't wait to announce he was running for it less than 24 hours after the election, he does not know what to do with the job.

That is what the shadow frontbencher, whoever they are, says about this Leader of the Opposition, and this Leader of the Opposition thinks he should be sitting in a cabinet, making decisions, on this side of the place.

To address the issue of drought: this is a very serious issue and one in which the government convened a national drought summit and sought to work, in a bipartisan fashion, at that time, with the opposition, and I recall the observations being made outside that drought summit by the very member who asked this question. Even before he got inside the room, he was already attacking the Future Drought Fund.

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hunter has asked his question.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If we're going to work on a bipartisan basis on this issue—we have not seen the policies that the opposition might be suggesting, but equally I would say this: the response that we're providing is comprehensive. It is dealing firstly with the assistance directly to farm households, whether they be farmers or graziers or others. It is investing in the district communities that need the support to work through the drought and to provide for their resilience for the future.

It is a serious issue, and Labor have referred to the suggestion of a 'war cabinet'. I would remind them of the history: that, even when this nation was actually in war, there was not a war cabinet of the nature suggested by the member who asked this question. I think it's important that we will continue to consult widely, as we do—listening, most importantly, to farmers and the rural districts, who we will continue to work with. The only politics being played on the drought is by those who sit opposite.