Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I just want to reflect that when I go down to my local corner store and asked the shopkeeper what's on her mind, I don't hear strident commentary about the National Party's latest stance on net zero or even idle speculation about who's moving where in the coalition ranks. That's the last thing on the minds of ordinary Australians. They've got better things to do. What I hear are the stories of everyday Australians—the stories that make up the fabric of this nation.

My shopkeeper tells me that her little girl has been unwell, had a fever and was up late at night. There was a trip to the urgent care clinic, a course of antibiotics and the worry that comes with that. She tells me she was late dropping off her daughter to child care this morning after the little sleep that she had, and that's the same child care that's finally affordable for her now because of Labor's reforms. So my shopkeeper is able to keep her job without having to make the choice to stay at home because she simply couldn't afford unsustainable child care. These are real and pressing concerns.

Australians experience government in their real life. They are far less interested in headlines and slogans than would be perhaps presented in the image of this place. Australians understand that they need real and practical assistance in ways that the government touches their lives to enhance their lives. That's why the open warfare we see on the other side of politics is so unedifying—the sniping, the friendly fire. It's not just embarrassing. It's revealing. It shows us a grouping, known as the LNP coalition, that was never serious about serving the people in recent times. It's a party mired in ego and personal gratification. Australians saw that. They saw it coming, and they clearly voted accordingly on 3 May.

In the Liberal and National parties, we see a group of people, not really a party. That would indicate some connection. But the LNP now is a cobbled-together cacophony of discordant voices—no harmony, all dissonance. It's a disaster for the old LNP of Menzies and Howard. It's a shaking shadow of its former self, and it matters. It matters for our democracy. For democracy to be healthy an alternative government has to be credible. It has to be ready. It has to be serious about meeting the moment, the many moments of need and desire of the Australian people, who is should be serving. Business and community leaders alike look to an alternative government to gauge the country's direction. Australians want stability. Australians want certainty, but what they're seeing from the coalition is absolute chaos.

Take climate policy. The fact is the climate is changing and so is the world around us. Investments made by past Labor governments are now paying dividends with renewables being the cheapest form of energy and coal now being the most expensive. Yet the National Party has abandoned the facts, dragging the coalition into climate denial and forcing businesses to factor that denial into their decision-making. It's a disaster for the nation. The chaos and craziness of it is almost unbelievable. While Labor ministers are lifting the ceiling, the coalition is busily lowering the floor. It's not new. We saw it in the last term of parliament—negativity and division dressed up as policy. When global inflation hit and the Australian people needed help, Labor stepped up with cost-of-living relief, energy rebates, cheaper child care and fairer tax cuts for every worker. What did the coalition do? They just said no—no to help for families, no to cheaper medicines, no to support for small business and no to tax cuts—because for them opposition is an identity not a responsibility. Australians deserve better than that. They deserve a government that governs, one that listens and works, and they deserve a far better opposition.