Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So, how has it come to this? This sorry tale begins with the bumbling Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction using a dodgy, doctored document to take a pot shot at a mayor, and, in the process, he may even have possibly broken the law. Now, in this moment, a wise and competent Prime Minister would enter the field, clean the matter up and move the show on. But that's not our Prime Minister. Oh, no. Like a moth to the flame with an involuntary reflex, at this moment, our Prime Minister doubles down. He wants to ascertain whether or not an investigation is on foot. He could have asked his department to do that, but, instead, he goes out and phones a friend and rings the New South Wales Police Commissioner. As Dr Geoffrey Watson, the former counsel assisting ICAC, said, 'It can't be anything else; it must be a favour.'

The Prime Minister of Australia rings the New South Wales Police Commissioner about an active investigation into one of his ministers. You know what they say—it's not the original act which gets you; it's always the cover-up. And right now out there we've got a stagnant economy, we have one of the worst droughts in our country's history, and all this Prime Minister can do is be the master in a three-ring circus. This is not the government that people hoped for in May. This is not good government. This is just a group of people out here seeking to redefine the Urban Dictionary, because this is the Garrad government.