Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I apologise, Mr Deputy President. I should know better. Mr Kevin Rudd, when he was Prime Minister, was going to end the blame game between states and the feds, and that has not happened—if anything, it has gotten worse. Prime Minister Gillard saw a jump in the polls late last year when she took the premiers on, and that has become her modus operandi.

This week, we have been trashing and we continue to trash our Federation as the ideology of the Greens and their lack of respect for the place of state governments in our Federation is being subsumed into ALP ideology. We know have a toxic relationship. That relationship needs to be restored so that it functions effectively for all, and especially for those struggling farmers in regional Australia, across every single state. The minister is right that they need access, but you cannot keep expecting state governments to pick up the can for every harebrained idea that you have, because when you actually have a good one they cannot afford to make it happen. (Time expired)