House debates

Thursday, 28 November 2019

Statements by Members

Morrison Government

1:48 pm

Photo of Matt ThistlethwaiteMatt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | | Hansard source

The government is being run by a bunch of children. The minister for emissions reductions, instead of concentrating on producing policies to actually reduce emissions and reduce skyrocketing electricity prices, is playing childish games, providing fraudulent documents to TheDaily Telegraph about the travel bill of a local mayor. That's what this government has stooped to. And, when he was caught out, he claimed he knew nothing and he came into this parliament and misled the parliament. He's now dragged the Prime Minister into it, and the minister's cowardice has led to a police investigation: Strike Force Garrad. Instead of standing down the minister, who clearly breached the Prime Minister's ministerial guidelines, what does this Prime Minister do? Unethically, he rings the New South Wales police minister to try to intervene in the matter and, instead of coming into the parliament and telling the truth, he makes a claim about former Prime Minister Julia Gillard that was based on a false quote from a shock jock rather than a Victorian police officer. Now the Prime Minister refuses to have the gumption and courage to come in here and explain his actions to the Australian people. He refuses to apologise to the Australian people for misleading the parliament. That is the maturity of this government. Someone in this government is not telling the truth, but no-one is brave enough to fess up to the Australian people and tell them exactly what's going on.