Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How can the people of Australia trust the Morrison government to deliver for them? This is a government that is absolutely divided. This is a government that is in disarray. This is a government that is distrusted by the people of Australia. This government is divided right at the time that Australians need their government to get them over the line and through this pandemic, to lead them to the brighter future that we all need right now. Instead, this week in the parliament we have had government members crossing the floor to vote with One Nation and government members threatening to withhold their votes—if only they could figure out exactly how to do that. We have had complete shambolic disarray in the parliament this week.

On top of all of that this is a government that is distrusted. This government is led by a Prime Minister who has been caught out again and again being loose with the truth. The Prime Minister in this very parliament has been exposed as believing that the truth is optional. We have a Prime Minister who this week has had to front up to the parliament and retract his lies. We have a Prime Minister who says one thing one day and then the complete opposite the next. Then he says that he can't remember what he said.

The people of Australia do not trust this Prime Minister—they do not. They do not trust a prime minister who can't make up his mind whether he condemns the violent protesters or whether he actually understands their frustrations. But one thing is for sure. The Australian people, rightly, expect better now. They expect better than a government that is divided. They expect better than this disarray. They want a government that they can trust.