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

I thank Senator Scarr for putting this motion forward because it's important to remind the Australian people that those in the now opposition, who vote against every cost-of-living measure, including energy relief, were in government for a decade. They had 22 policies in this area and delivered not one of them. It is a great opportunity to remind the Australian people of what we have done as a government, coming into government after the huge debt we inherited from those opposite, who made a complete mess. What we already invested in helping Australian families and small businesses with energy costs was so welcomed by the Australian community, and tonight's budget will see another $150 going to Australians and to Australian businesses.

What we haven't got from those opposite are any policies other than nuclear, and the shadow Treasurer can't even put a cost on nuclear energy. What we've got is the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dutton, trying to ensure they are a small target. He's on a very tight chain. He can't be allowed to have a complete media conference, because people are very concerned about what he might say. This government has done everything that it has been able to do to relieve the cost of living for Australian families. We believe in renewable energy. We believe that is the way of the future. As senator for the great state of Tasmania I know what hydro energy has done for our community. Australians will always look to a government to show leadership in this area. We have introduced measure after measure, whether it was increasing Medicare or energy relief for people to get through the cost of living. We have put our money where our mouth is, we have outlined what our policies are and we are very proud to stand behind those.

The opposition think they can go to this next election without any policies apart from nuclear. They can't even put a figure on how much that's going to cost, let alone when it's going to be introduced, but what we know from people who have the expertise is that it's going to cost Australian families and businesses more money. We have seen those opposite trying to rewrite history. They voted against every cost-of-living measure, then all of a sudden they vote for the first round of energy relief. They opposed it, but now because there's an election coming we have Mr Dutton wanting to be seen to be supporting this and supporting that. The Australian people see through that, and they know that, if you vote Liberal in your local electorate—like in the seat of Bass, if you vote for the current member—the reality is you're going to end up with Peter Dutton as the Prime Minister. That is a risk to the state of Tasmania and to the country that I believe the Australian people will think very seriously about, because they are concerned about someone they know nothing about, who makes gaffe after gaffe.

We've got a cyclone about to hit Queensland and northern New South Wales and what does he do as leader? He goes off to a Liberal Party fundraiser. He's the first to point the finger at everyone else, but he has shown that he doesn't have the leadership skills. He's come out with a policy of cutting. He's going to cut, cut, cut. What he's saying to the Australian people is: 'I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to cut, other than we're going to cut the Public Service. Just trust me.' Well, there's a history of Australian people trusting Liberal opposition leaders and ending up being very, very disappointed. After the time that the coalition have had in opposition and the fact that they can't come up with any policies—they've got a shadow Treasurer who can't—it's going to be really interesting on Thursday night. I can hardly wait for the puppet show on Thursday night—that the Liberal Party have finally found a heart. I put my faith in the Australian people that they see through Peter Dutton and that they also see through the Liberals and the Nationals, whom they've been let down by time and time again. They won't tolerate this by putting them back into government this election.