Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Welcome back, Madam Acting Deputy President Bilyk. It's great to see you back in Canberra.

I stand here now nearly 10 years after the election of this tired, stale Liberal-National government. What have we got to show, as a country, for 10 years of Liberal-National government? We have an aged-care system in crisis; we have Australian wages not keeping up with the cost of living; we have GP shortages across the country; and any business you talk to will tell you that they are screaming for skilled workers because of the skills shortages this government has presided over. On any measure, this government has been a complete failure, and it has a long list of things that it should be doing in the run-up to this election. Instead, what are the government focused on? They're focused on leaking text messages against each other. That is what is occupying the minds of the most senior people in this country as we come to the end of this term. The government have become a bad episode of Mean Girlsleaking on each other and spreading rumours about each other, rather than focusing on the things that matter to the Australian people.

What's happening around my home state of Queensland while the government choose just to leak on each other? The Jeta Gardens aged-care facility, south of Brisbane, is in complete meltdown, with the deaths from COVID of 15 aged residents, and 182 residents and staff testing positive for COVID. Further north, in Rockhampton, people are waiting a month to see a GP, with specialists' costs spiralling out of control under this government's watch. In Gracemere, outside Rocky, we've got GP clinics refusing to take on patients, because they can't employ enough doctors. In Emerald it takes six months to get an appointment with a psychologist. These are the things that this Liberal-National government should have fixed in nearly 10 years, rather than just spreading rumours and sending texts about each other. (Time expired)