Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My apologies. Senator Barnaby Joyce and Liberal member for Hughes, Craig Kelly, were proudly addressing a 'rotten to the core' rally. I should not have to remind Senator Joyce and Mr Kelly that this group has covered themselves in glory on numerous occasions over the last couple of years. The group's spokesperson stated publicly that the furore over Alan Jones's 'died of shame' comment was an overreaction and that Jones was the subject of cyber-bullying. They have hurled abuse at the elected Prime Minister of this country during question time. They have perpetrated climate change denialism. The list goes on, and the coalition is right next to them every step of the way.

This trend of extremism and political activism embraced by the coalition comes at a huge cost to Australia. Tony Abbott has sought to consistently undermine the government's efforts to reasonably manage the Australian economy and has done this in part by lowering the tone of the debate at every turn. Remember, it was Labor's response to the global financial crisis that saved hundreds of thousands of jobs and small businesses in this country. It was praised by Noble prize-winning economists and ensured that Australia did not slide into recession. Our economy has a gold-plated AAA credit rating. This is the envy of countries around the world, but all we have heard from the opposition is a series of breathtakingly stupid comments. We had the shadow Treasurer saying that the Australian economy is 'flatlining', even though it has grown considerably. He also regularly implies that running a $1.5 trillion national economy is not dissimilar to running a household budget. This is of course part of a wider trend when it comes to the economy and a range of other issues, as senior coalition leaders try to sound like everyday people. If I hear Tony Abbott say the words 'fair dinkum'—