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

If Mr Angus Taylor is the answer to the opposition's woes, then, really, one would have to wonder what the question was. I think a quote that really summarises the Leader of the Opposition so well is that, in a time when Australia needs strong, visionary leadership, we are confronted with an opposition leader whose credentials are, at best, questionable and, at worst, downright alarming.

Mr Taylor is a Morrison leftover clinging desperately to the old guard while the rest of the country moves forward. Mr Malcolm Turnbull, never shy with his words, once labelled Mr Taylor as the 'best qualified idiot'. But the reality is that Mr Taylor's record as shadow Treasurer is a catalogue of opposition to policies that would make life easier for everyday Australians.

At the last election, while families were under the pump because of cost-of-living pressures, Mr Taylor stood against tax cuts that would have provided much-needed relief. He opposed energy bill relief, and yet those opposite still come in here and talk about what we didn't do around energy bill relief. But they voted against it, leaving households to grapple with the rising costs. He fought against cheaper child care, denying working parents a chance to return to work and contribute to our economy. On superannuation—we've just passed two very good bills—Mr Taylor blocked increases that would have helped Australians retire with dignity and security. When it came to building more homes and affordable housing for Australians, particularly for low-income earners, Mr Taylor resisted efforts to expand housing, leaving many without hope of affordable accommodation.

Now, let's address the elephant in the room—the watergate scandal. Watergate refers to the 2017 controversy involving an $80 million government buyback of water licences from Eastern Australia Agriculture, a company co-founded by Mr Taylor himself. In 2017, the federal government paid them nearly $80 million. Who was in government at that time? It was a Liberal government, of course. Mr Taylor himself was, as I said, a co-founder, and in 2017 the federal government paid nearly $80 million for overland flow licences from two cotton properties in Queensland. This was the highest price ever paid for water under the—