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

If I hear Mr Abbott say the words 'fair dinkum' one more time, I will vomit. We also need to consider that the coalition's fixation on ignorance is damaging Australia's strong international reputation as a progressive and dynamic middle power. When Euromoney magazine awarded its prestigious Finance Minister of the Year award to Treasurer Wayne Swan, the shadow Treasurer basically threw his toys out of the pram. Let's not forget that he made several telling remarks, including this gem when discussing past winners. He said:

In 2001 there was a Pakistani finance minister. That is quite an extraordinary one, that one.

If the shadow Treasurer had conducted any semblance of research, he would have found that the Pakistani minister in question could have headed Citibank in New York. Instead, he returned to Pakistan to institute successful economic reforms. Extraordinary indeed!

Sometimes it seems that every time the opposition leader opens his mouth, he tarnishes the country's image. He has publicly lamented the fact that the Prime Minister will not 'lie down and die' and stated that the science behind climate change is 'absolute crap'. Even his own party cringed when he said in September last year that the Prime Minister should be talking to the Indonesian president in Jakarta rather than 'swanning around in New York talking to Africans'. How embarrassing! This was despite the fact that the Prime Minister was attending the annual four-day assembly of the United Nations, which was also attended by the president.

Mr Abbott and senior members of his party have been raising the bar of stupidity, and it is to the detriment of the political discourse in this country. This means that moderate members of the Liberal Party are quickly becoming an endangered species. They must look on in horror every time they witness their leader pursue his chief strategy: 'Give me the prime ministership or I will wreck the joint.' There is no nuance, no thoughtful opinion, no well-constructed arguments or invitation to challenge the merits of an idea. Instead they rely simplistically on mantras like 'stop the boats' or 'great big new tax.' It is vicious, crude and cheap, and it demonstrates that the Abbott coalition is a political soulmate of the Republican Party.

The Liberals' strategy is to make politics a policy-free zone, and by unleashing their attack dogs and fomenting this culture of ugly protest the opposition has redefined political demonstrations in Australia. How on earth has this come to be? And tonight, when we heard the budget in reply, what did we get? We got more of the same negativity, denying that there is any need to address climate change. It was more of the same, and we know on this side, as the Australian public already know—and we will educate them—about the challenges ahead they will face under any incoming coalition government, and that is their attacks on Australian workers and what they will do in bringing back Work Choices mark 3. We know what Tony Abbott's history was when he was the minister for health. He gutted the health department by a billion dollars. (Time expired)

Opposition senators interjecting—