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representatives vote 2022-12-01#1
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2022-12-08 14:48:34
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Title
Motions — Prime Minister- Motions - Prime Minister - Let another vote take place
Description
<p class="speaker">Peter Dutton</p><p>by leave—I move:</p>-
- The majority voted in favour of *disagreeing* with a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/debates/?id=2022-12-01.87.2) introduced by Dickson MP [Peter Dutton](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/dickson/peter_dutton) (Liberal), which means it failed.
- ### Motion text
- > *That so much of the [standing and sessional orders](https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/parliament-at-work/standing-orders/) be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately—That this House:*
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- > *(1) notes that:*
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- >> *(a) before the election, the Prime Minister promised on at least 97 occasions that Australians would receive a $275 cut in their power bills; and*
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- >> *(b) since the election, the Prime Minister has abandoned this promise and refused on 27 occasions to stand by this promise when asked about it in this House; and*
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- > *(2) therefore condemns the Prime Minister for cynically and deliberately misleading the Australian people.*
<p class="italic">That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately—That this House:</p><p class="italic">(1) notes that:</p><p class="italic">(a) before the election, the Prime Minister promised on at least 97 occasions that Australians would receive a $275 cut in their power bills; and</p><p class="italic">(b) since the election, the Prime Minister has abandoned this promise and refused on 27 occasions to stand by this promise when asked about it in this House; and</p><p class="italic">(2) therefore condemns the Prime Minister for cynically and deliberately misleading the Australian people.</p><p>As late as question time today, the Leader of the House, the Treasurer—the whole front bench—has refused to back in this weak Prime Minister. This Prime Minister went to an election on integrity, saying to the Australian people he would look them in the eye and that he could be relied upon. As it turned out, he completely deceived the Australian public. And it was not just on one occasion; this wasn't just a slip of the tongue. This wasn't a Prime Minister who was in full flight during the course of a press conference and misspoke or moved off his speaking points, as we saw this Prime Minister regularly do in the election campaign. He made that promise on 97 occasions.</p><p>Now, do you think that Australians were listening to what the Prime Minister said? I'll bet they were, because what he said was based on the research that the Labor Party had done during and up to the election in May. The Australian public wanted to hear from this Prime Minister, the then Leader of the Opposition, that they would get a cut to their electricity prices and to their gas prices if Labor was elected. So what did the machine men of the Labor Party do? They came up, Mr Speaker—</p> <p class="speaker">Government Members</p><p>Government members interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Peter Dutton</p><p>And they are machine men. They're over there in the advisers' box giving the Prime Minister some desperate notes right now. Mr Speaker, let me say—</p><p>Government members interjecting—</p><p>Opposition members interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Milton Dick</p><p>Order!</p> <p class="speaker">Peter Dutton</p><p>They promised $275—</p> <p class="speaker">Milton Dick</p><p>Order! The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. Members on my right, I'll hear—</p><p>Government members interjecting—</p><p>Order! When the House comes to order I'll hear from the Leader of the House.</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Burke</p><p>Mr Speaker, there are two rules that have normally been observed by both sides. There are two groups that we don't target in debate: we don't target people's families and we don't target people's staff.</p><p>Government members interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Milton Dick</p><p>Order! Members on my right, I'll be heard in silence. Can I ask the Leader of the Opposition to rephrase that part of his response.</p> <p class="speaker">Peter Dutton</p><p>Mr Speaker, there were faceless men in the Labor Party who, on research, came up with the line that they believed the Australian public wanted to hear, and this Prime Minister looked the Australian public in the eye on 97 occasions and told them that they would get a $275 cut to their power bills—97 times! Do you know what's happened since the election, Mr Speaker? We have given every opportunity to the Prime Minister to repeat that claim, to say to the Australian public: 'You didn't mishear me during the election campaign. You aren't going crazy. You actually heard—yes, you did—on 97 occasions that Labor, in government, would reduce power prices by $275.'</p><p>The Prime Minister, on 27 occasions now since the election, has been given the opportunity in this parliament to apologise to the Australian people, to say that he made a mistake, to suggest to the Australian people that somehow they misunderstood. That hasn't happened, because that decency that the Prime Minister could express, the apology that he should give to the Australian people, completely escapes him.</p><p>At a time when families are seeing an increase in their power prices because of Labor Party policies, at a time when Australians are seeing an increase in their gas prices because of Labor Party policies, they are feeling deceived by this Prime Minister. They wanted to believe in him, they wanted to believe that he was sincere, they wanted to understand that he would deliver on a promise that he made solemnly to them on 97 occasions, and there's no chance of it—no chance of it at all.</p><p>I'll tell you what's happened since the election. The Labor Party delivered a budget only a month ago. In that budget the Australian public expected that after five months in government the government would have come up with a plan to deliver on their election promises. That's what they expected in the budget—not unreasonably, either, I might say. What happened in the budget was that Labor said to the Australian public: no $275 cut. There was no mention of $275 anywhere in the papers associated with the budget. So not only can they not say it in this place; they can't say it in their budget papers.</p><p>What did the budget papers tell us, Mr Speaker? They were very clear. The budget papers delivered in October said two things, amongst many. Firstly, they said that after two years of Labor Party policy the price of electricity would go up by 56 per cent. There was no mention of that before the election. Secondly, they said that gas prices after two years of Labor policy would go up by 44 per cent. Now, I know that Labor isn't too good when it comes to management of the economy or numbers, but surely it doesn't escape even the Australian Labor Party that a promise of $275 is the complete opposite of delivering a 56 per cent increase.</p><p>I'll tell you who does get it, Mr Speaker: Australian families. At the moment, they are facing eight per cent inflation under this Labor government. They are facing increased interest rates. Australian families are coming off fixed interest rates of 1.8 per cent and going up to 4½, and interest rates are going north. They are facing huge increases in every line item in the household budget. We're now getting Australian manufacturers who are talking about moving offshore because they're worried about the instability in the system. They're worried about massive increases well beyond the 56 per cent and well beyond the 44 per cent.</p><p>To compound the Prime Minister's deception of the Australian people, they have now concocted this argument that somehow the war in Ukraine—the illegal invasion by Russia into Ukraine in February this year—is the excuse for not delivering the $275. Let's be very clear about this, because this deception was repeated in question time again today. I wish I had more time. I wish the government would allow us to have the debate, but let me say this—on 24 February Russia invaded Ukraine. Since that date, the Prime Minister has personally promised on 28 occasions to cut power bills by $275. Today, the Prime Minister is saying we can't deliver on the $275 because of Russia going into Ukraine. Yet since Russia has gone into Ukraine the Prime Minister has repeated that promise to deliver the $275 price cut on 28 occasions.</p><p>The Australian people aren't stupid. They are not stupid. They can see a fake and a phony a mile away. I'll you what—they saw in Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. They are seeing this government make critical economic mistakes right now, including significant changes to the industrial relations system which will come as a wet blanket across the Australian economy at exactly the wrong time. The Australian public and small businesses get it. They know that at the last election they were deceived by this Prime Minister. They thought he was a man whose word he would honour and whose word they could trust, and he has demonstrated to them time after time, before and since the election, that he does not live up to his word. There are 28 occasions—and I am very happy to table that and to go through each and every one of the quotes: on 3AW, on AFR, on ABC in Townsville, at a doorstop by the Prime Minister in Tasmania, on <i>Today</i> Extra, on ABC <i>News Breakfast</i> and on Channel 7 news. This Prime Minister says one thing to the Australian public before an election, and then does the complete opposite after. So, don't believe a word this Prime Minister has to say when it comes to electricity prices.</p><p>Under this government, with the policies that they are delivering, with what they have promised in their budget, your power prices are going up. Your electricity prices are going up. Your gas prices are going up. I say to the Australian public: don't trust this Prime Minister.</p> <p class="speaker">Milton Dick</p><p>Is the motion seconded?</p> <p class="speaker">Sussan Ley</p><p>I'm delighted to second the motion. You see, this is a prime minister who didn't know the interest rate but thought he could promise you cheaper mortgages. This is a prime minister who said the number 275 ninety-seven times before the election, but hasn't said it since. This is a prime minister who's not very good with numbers even though he likes to quote his economics degree and all the genuine intel he has about how the economy works. He couldn't name the interest rate but he promised you cheaper mortgages.</p><p>We're here in the Liberal and National Parties fighting for the people across Australia who are waiting for their mortgages to get cheaper, who are for their power price to go down and who are struggling to pay their power bills. We're here for the small manufacturers. We're here for the farmers. We're here for the small businesses that you come into this place and laugh at every single question time. We know that they're hurting and we know that they expected better from you, Prime Minister. They expected better from your front bench, who sits here and jeers and sneers and laughs and puts down the ordinary Australians who are counting on you, who listen to the promises you made. You can't say one thing six months ago, come into parliament and roll out an agenda that is full of excuses, because people want solutions. They don't want excuses. The people who are contacting us every day want answers to their problems. They don't want an industry minister who can't talk to the resources minister. They don't want a treasurer who wrings his hands and says, 'It's all awful because of what happened in Russia.' They don't want a prime minister who comes to this dispatch box and laughs, sneers and jeers at the genuine problems they're facing.</p><p>Let me just remind people who might be listening that Australians were promised a plan for cheaper mortgages. They were promised a plan for cheaper electricity. They were promised a plan for wages, and even the government's own budget papers demonstrate that real wages will not go up in this term. Where do this government's priorities lie? Only in ramming through their radical and extreme industrial relations agenda and the hurt that will cause small business. The Minister for Small Business could not name a single small business, and neither, with respect, Prime Minister, could you name a single small business that supports this radical industrial relations agenda. You and your team, Prime Minister, have prioritised the unions—</p> <p class="speaker">Milton Dick</p><p>The deputy leader will resume her seat for a moment. I'm just going to remind her that every time she says 'you' she's reflecting on me, so please direct your remarks through me. The House will come to order so the deputy leader can be heard in silence.</p> <p class="speaker">Sussan Ley</p><p>The priorities of this government are the union movement and payback to their bosses. I think it's $100 million, Prime Minister, over 15 years in donations that have gone to the Australian Labor Party. I guess that counts for something. I guess that means payback needs to happen and I guess that's why your radical and extreme industrial relations agenda has taken priority over the needs of ordinary families, of small businesses, of Australians who are hurting, who know that their energy costs are getting higher and higher.</p><p>Your own energy minister is reminding us how much energy is going up, how much more expensive it's going to be for households, how much the gas prices are going up. But never, never do we see a plan, so it's vital, Mr Speaker, that standing orders are suspended so that we can properly hold this government to account for the promises it has made and the promises it has broken. I want to remind people what those promises were: you would see real wage cuts, you would see cheaper mortgages, your wages would go up. By the way, you don't get wages moving by putting the brakes on business, and that seems to be your only policy at the moment. Meanwhile, for people and householders their energy bills are going up, their repayments are going up, their pay is going backwards because this government lacks a cost-of-living plan.</p><p>A cost-of-living plan would give ordinary families and households and businesses some hope, some reassurance, some comfort going into the Christmas period that, as they come out the other side, things are actually going to get better. We are indeed facing challenging global economic times, and we'd like to understand that this government has a plan and that this government has their back. But clearly that is not the message you are giving. Suspension of standing orders is vital. I must repeat, Prime Minister, it is vital that you explain to this House, this parliament and the Australian people: what is your plan for a cheaper cost of living for every Australian?</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
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