Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Only just. He was going to lead us into the new era. He was going to have this huge mandate. But it has not happened. He has compounded the coalition's abysmal fiscal record, which has seen the deficit triple, net debt blow out by well over $100 billion and the AAA credit rating put at risk. When it comes to the budget, this government stumbles from one stuff-up to the next, to be quite frank.

The government's omnibus savings bill was a shambles even before Labor did the sums and found an embarrassing $107 million black hole and came up with fairer ways to save money. The government's superannuation policy has been shredded by its backbench, highlighting the disunity and dysfunction within its ranks. The Prime Minister lectures about the moral responsibility of budget repair, but at the same time he wants to gift a $50 billion tax cut to big business, when that money could go to schools and education and hospitals.

Mr Turnbull and his government have shown that they do not have any idea how to fix the budget in a fair way. Labor has led on this debate and will continue to provide the economic leadership the Prime Minister has proven so incapable of.

The Prime Minister keeps raising issues, but then he fails to follow through on them. He wears the suit, he talks the talk but he does not walk the walk. He is really unable to walk the walk. He is someone that is scared of his own shadow—or of the shadows that stalk him, just waiting to pull off another coup.

We had the Prime Minister's move to hike the GST, a move that he dumped at the first sign of trouble—although I am sure he would raise it again, should an opportunity arise and should he get any control of his party room, which we do not hold out much hope of him doing. But there is one thing that Mr Turnbull has achieved. His achievement is he has helped people forget how bad Mr Abbott was. (Time expired)