Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I thought I'd talk about jellyfish. More precisely, I want to talk about the similarities between the new Labor Party and jellyfish. It's a scientific fact that jellyfish have no brains, no backbone, no heart and no eyes. It's a perfect description of the new Labor Party when it comes to the Victorian timber community. We have a world-class and sustainable native timber industry in Victoria, which is being destroyed by an arrogant Labor premier who doesn't care about the damage he's doing to country communities—and neither do the Labor MPs in this place. New Labor is so desperate for Greens preferences it sacrifices the jobs of blue-collar workers every day of the week. Old Labor MPs would have had the guts to stand up and fight for blue-collar workers, but not one of those members opposite has done that. The new Labor Party is the jellyfish party. You have no brains, no backbone, no heart and no eyes because you can't even see the damage the Victorian Premier is doing to Victoria. But it gets better. Jellyfish don't have a stomach, either, and I've never seen a more gutless Labor Party than the lot in front of me here today. They are too gutless to stand up for blue-collar workers and timber communities right across Victoria.