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senate vote 2023-12-06#10
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-04-27 18:33:02
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Title
Matters of Urgency — Albanese Government- Matters of Urgency - Albanese Government - Vote of no confidence
Description
<p class="speaker">Penny Allman-Payne</p><p>The President has received the following letter from Senator Hanson:</p>-
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2023-12-06.171.2) introduced by Queensland Senator [Pauline Hanson](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/queensland/pauline_hanson) (One Nation), which means it failed.
- ### Motion text
- > *That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:*
- >
- > *The need for the Senate to express a vote of no confidence in the Albanese Labor Government due to its broken promises and multiple failures to deliver for the Australian people on everything from national security to cost of living pressures.*
<p class="italic">Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">The need for the Senate to express a vote of no confidence in the Albanese Labor Government due to its broken promises and multiple failures to deliver for the Australian people on everything from national security to cost of living pressures."</p><p>Is the proposal supported?</p><p class="italic"> <i>More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—</i></p> <p class="speaker">Pauline Hanson</p><p>I move:</p><p class="italic">That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">The need for the Senate to express a vote of no confidence in the Albanese Labor Government due to its broken promises and multiple failures to deliver for the Australian people on everything from national security to cost of living pressures.</p><p>Back in 2017 I was in a delegation to India with other parliamentarians, including the current Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. I learnt quite a bit about him and his leadership style, and my assessment back then was that he was a nice bloke but no leader. Since last year's election, my assessment has been proven correct. I have no confidence in the Albanese Labor government. The Prime Minister is unfit to lead and Labor is unfit to govern this nation. They are controlled by unions and by the anti-Australian Greens. They pursue policies which directly harm the Australian people and the national economy. Their list of failure, neglect and incompetence is a long one in only 18 months.</p><p>Their obsession with climate change and renewables is directly responsible for the record energy bills hurting Australian families and businesses, not to mention transmission lines on farming land. This obsession is well on the way to killing our mining and farming industries, our economic mainstays, which support regional communities and much of the taxpayer funded services Australians take for granted. They're also attacking farmers by taking more water from the communities in the Murray-Darling Basin, shutting down live exports, and polluting agricultural land with renewables or locking it up for nature repair. If you think your groceries are expensive now, just wait.</p><p>Labor's incompetence has seen the release of dangerous criminals, three of whom have already been arrested for more alleged crimes, into the community. One hundred and forty-seven have been released or are about to be released, despite the fact that the High Court's decision on extended detention related to only one of them. The government jumped the gun after they were caught with their pants down, and their only response is to blame the former government. People smugglers also have heard the message loud and clear, with a boat actually reaching the Australian mainland a few weeks ago. Immigration is out of control, with record numbers driving inflation and the national housing and rental crisis.</p><p>The PM sowed division in Australia with his disastrous campaign for a Voice to Parliament, wasting $450 million At least his divisive referendum exposed the failure of the $40 billion-per-year Aboriginal industry to close the gaps. Labor refuses to investigate and audit this industry to get to the bottom of why it has failed Indigenous Australians in genuine need.</p><p>Labor has made the family law system even more one-sided against fathers by removing shared parental responsibility, and it is failing men across a range of issues It has done absolutely nothing to address the epidemic of male suicide, which in the past year has claimed the lives of more than 2,500 men and boys. The PM has a Minister for Women and even an Assistant Minister for the Republic, which doesn't exist, but not a minister for men. Go figure.</p><p>Labor refuses to support an inquiry into the huge increase in the number of children being treated for gender dysphoria with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Say no more.</p><p>Labor has given the chop to critical infrastructure projects that would improve road safety and water security. It hasn't reduced spending; it's just moved money around and held projects hostage against favourable state election outcomes, especially in Queensland.</p><p>Australians are hurting from the cost-of-living crisis. Virtually everything costs more than it did in May last year, when the Albanese Labor government was elected, including groceries, fuel, energy, rents, mortgages and insurance.</p><p>These costs just keep going up and there's no end in sight. On average, mortgagees are paying over $20,000 more per year on their home loans as the RBA desperately tries to rein in this inflation.</p><p>Labor has made a sport of disrespecting this parliament, the seat of democracy and the people's elected representatives. They've rammed through laws heavy with negative consequences for the economy, national security and the cost of living, giving the people's representatives virtually no time to review them, and I can vouch for that. When I don't get the legislation and you put it on the floor and I have no idea what is going to happen here and you expect us to vote on it, you have no respect for the chambers or the other members in parliament, especially the crossbench. That's why there was my notice of motion.</p><p>I have no confidence in the PM or his government, and increasing numbers of Australians agree. They're actually calling for a fresh election now. If you think he's a great leader, call an election and see how the people feel about this. As I said, this is the worst government I have ever seen in parliament under four prime ministers.</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Sheldon</p><p>The problem with this One Nation motion is that the Liberals and the Nationals say one thing about the cost of living but their actions say the exact opposite, and that's what this One Nation motion goes to the heart of. They come here and talk about the cost of living, but when we introduce bills for laws to relieve those measures, they vote against them.</p><p>Labor introduced an emergency energy bill relief plan to reduce power bills by $230 per year. The Liberals and Nationals voted against it. Labor invested $10 billion in new affordable housing. The Liberals and Nationals voted against it. Labor introduced laws for 60-day prescriptions, saving people millions of dollars on prescription costs. The Liberals and Nationals voted against it. Labor increased the rate of JobSeeker by $40 a fortnight. The Liberals and Nationals voted against it. Labor set up 300,000 people to go to TAFE for free. We sent them there for free, and the Liberals and Nationals said it was a waste of money. Labor made the biggest investment in bulk-billing in Australian history. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dutton, led the biggest ever attack on bulk-billing when he was the health minister. He had a plan to introduce a GP tax for people to pay every time they saw the doctor.</p><p>Now, you've seen the pattern here. Every single week we come here to get more cost-of-living support out to working families, and every single week the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation come here to obstruct. Nowhere is that more obvious than when we talk about wages and conditions at work. We understand there are two parts to the cost of living: how much things cost and how much you earn. When it comes to making energy, medicine, GP visits, child care, TAFE and housing affordable, they oppose all of that. And when it comes to helping Australians get better paying and more secure jobs, they oppose that too.</p><p>We had a bill in this place last year that was literally called the secure jobs, better pay bill and the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation opposed it. What was so terrible about it? Why did they vote against it? The bill made it easier for employers and employees to make agreements that would increase wages. It ended the use of old agreements that expired years ago that trapped workers below the minimum wage. It put limits on the use of rolling fixed-term contracts for years at a time. It introduced a right to request flexible work. It made it illegal for employers to ban their workers from talking about their wages. It made it illegal to put up job ads for less than the minimum wage. These are all things the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation voted against.</p><p>The shadow workplace minister said:</p><p class="italic">We can now expect jobs will be lost … and large and small businesses will fold …</p><p>What actually happened? We have unemployment at record lows. Female employment and participation are at record highs. New job creation is at a record high. Wage growth is at a record high. So we know for a fact that the steps this government is taking are keeping more Australians in secure work and are delivering higher wages.</p><p>We want to go further. We want to close the loopholes that some employers like Qantas and BHP use to keep wages low. One Nation and the Nationals claim to represent coalminers in Queensland and the Hunter. But, at the same time, they are voting to keep the labour hire loophole open.</p><p>We saw in the House the member for Flynn, Colin Boyce, vote against same job, same pay for mine workers in his own area. We saw the member for Capricornia, Michelle Landry, vote against same job, same pay in her own area, abandoning her community. They are all spitting in the face of mine workers who are being ripped off by the richest companies in Australia. Will One Nation and the National senators for Queensland do the same thing when the bill comes here?</p><p>Dwayne Arnold, who works through labour hire at the Grosvenor mine and is a fourth-generation mine worker, told the closing loopholes inquiry:</p><p class="italic">… I'm still paid quite substantially less than the permanent employees. It makes you feel worthless and undervalued when you're doing the same job and getting paid that much less for it …</p><p class="italic"> <i>(Time expired)</i></p> <p class="speaker">James McGrath</p><p>When I look at those who are sitting around the cabinet table, I think there are a lot of villages missing their village idiots. You're looking at the hapless halfwits who are attempting to run this country at the moment. When I speak to my fellow Queenslanders, I think, 'I wouldn't trust these people to operate a toaster, a kettle, a remote control', because—guess what?—they wouldn't be able to do it.</p><p>The interjections start like seagulls coming in for the chips. I'll throw out the chips to those Labor people over there, because that's all they can do. All they can do is shout and interject. It comes down to the simple fact that Australians do not have confidence in this government. They do not have confidence in this government, which is not keeping Australians safe, because—guess what?—the fourth person who was released 10 days ago has now been arrested. It's up to four! Congratulations, Labor. You're stuffing up the economy and now you're making sure that Australians do not feel safe at home because of your failure to—</p> <p class="speaker">Penny Allman-Payne</p><p>Senator McGrath, resume your seat. Senator Bilyk?</p> <p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>I've been told previously that 'stuffing up' is an unparliamentary term. I ask you to ask Senator McGrath to withdraw that.</p> <p class="speaker">Penny Allman-Payne</p><p>Senator McGrath, it would assist the chamber.</p> <p class="speaker">James McGrath</p><p>I withdraw. Labor, in a ham-fisted way, are completely messing up the economy. They're like a bunch of toddlers who've been given a very expensive tractor and are just sitting there drooling, wondering what to do with it. Then, of course, they'll press a button and break it all up. This is the damage that the Labor Party are causing to the economy, and this is quite serious because we're in a cost-of-living crisis.</p><p>What did the Labor Party do? They had a cunning plan. Like Baldrick out of <i>Black Adder</i>, it was a cunning plan that didn't really work. Prime Minister Albanese's cunning plan was to spend half a billion dollars on a referendum that would divide Australians on the basis of race. This was going to be the defining moment of Prime Minister Albanese's political career—</p> <p class="speaker">Paul Scarr</p><p>His legacy.</p> <p class="speaker">James McGrath</p><p>His legacy. Everybody would come together. Like a Roman Caesar being crowned, he would be the one true ruler of this continent. Sadly, he forgot to think about what the Australian people might think of his quite bonkers plan to divide Australians on the basis of race, and they, sensibly, voted no to it.</p><p>Like Ozymandias—from Tennyson, I think it was, Senator Scarr—in terms of 'look down and despair', we have a Prime Minister who bet everything on the Voice getting up. And when he woke up on 15 October with a political hangover, there was no plan B. There was no plan C, D, E, F or G. There was no other plan. What's clearly happened is that they've had to go to some focus groups. They've gotten Labor Party secretariats to do some focus groups to find out: What does middle Australia think? What are they thinking about? Three words have come in—three words that were not mentioned before 14 October—cost of living. You didn't need to spend money on focus groups. You didn't need to waste half a billion dollars on a referendum. The No. 1 issue since Labor has come to power has been the cost of living, because we've had 12 interest rate rises.</p><p>We have high inflation and we do not have real wages growth in this country. This is happening under a Labor government who promised to make life better for people. But my question and my challenge to anyone who is listening to this today is: do you feel better off today than you did 18 months ago? You don't. Do you feel safer today than 18 months ago, knowing that this Labor government has released murderers, rapists, sex offenders and a contract killer out into the streets of this country? And the question people will be asking—</p> <p class="speaker">Penny Allman-Payne</p><p>Senator Polley?</p> <p class="speaker">Helen Polley</p><p>My point of order is that the motion before the chair is not the issue that the good senator is addressing. We know we have a wideranging view on motions, but he's not speaking to the motion.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
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