Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would assume from the number of points of order being taken by the government that these comments are actually affecting them. The real life experience of Mrs D'Ath from 1994 to 2007 was as the senior industrial advocate for the AWU in Queensland. It is a great qualification for developing industry and innovation policy. As I said, you will remember that Mrs D'Ath and Ms Gillard are such good friends that one of Ms Gillard’s first actions became notorious. One of her first acts as Prime Minister was to use the VIP jet—at a cost of $9,000 to taxpayers—to fly to Brisbane and back to support an AWU fundraiser for her friend Mrs D'Ath. We are told the function, which was attended by one of Ms Gillard's strongest supporters, Mr Bill Ludwig, raised $10,000 but it cost taxpayers $9,000 to get Ms Gillard there so that $10,000 could go into Mrs D'Ath's electorate coffers. As Senator Ronaldson from our side joked at the time, it would have been cheaper had Ms Gillard stayed home and written a Treasury cheque to her good friend.

By contrast, Mr Luke Howarth’s record is in itself a great reason to vote for him. He understands the needs of small business in his electorate—Petrie has particularly large light industry and commercial regions in it, and Luke knows those people and knows them well. The fact that Luke Howarth will be part of a Tony Abbott led government that will restore hope, reward and opportunity is another great reason for the electors of Petrie to vote for him. But I have here an additional reason that I think people should vote for Luke Howarth. It is a photo of the woman who has led—