Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Mr Bowen interjecting—

If there were lies spoken, they were certainly spoken in the last six years of the Labor government. There were certainly a lot of lies spoken then. We just heard 10 minutes of book reviews. Mind you, on the day when the Prime Minister actually launched Paul Kelly's Triumph and Demise: The Broken Promise of a Labor Generation we discovered in that book how dysfunctional, how disorderly the Labor government was under the Rudd years. We heard some sitcom from the opposition leader, who, quite frankly, is not fit to lead the Labor Party. However, we heard some mirth and merriment from him. We need to be serious about this, though. We also heard some spiteful allegations about what we are doing. We are getting on with the job of fixing—

Mr Bowen interjecting—

I will come to you later! Labor are the ones who have not listened to the Australian people. They did not listen when they were voted out of office and they are not listening now.

Mr Bowen interjecting—

Yes, it was a good visit to Wagga; I hear the member for McMahon interjecting. I will go straight to your Wagga Wagga visit. In his regular Friday column, in Wagga Wagga's TheDaily Advertiser, respected newspaperman Graham Gorrel talked of his attendance at Labor's annual Eddie Graham dinner the previous Saturday, where the guest speaker was none other than the member for McMahon.

The Hon. Edgar Hugh Graham was the Labor state member for Wagga Wagga from 1941 until his death at aged 60—far too young—in 1957. If you were not aware, he was known affectionately as the 'Minister for Wagga Wagga' for all his good work for the city. He served as agriculture minister in the New South Wales parliament for nearly 12½ years. He was a good man and a good MP. He was a Labor MP; I acknowledge that. The guest speaker, as I said, was the federal shadow Treasurer, the world's worst immigration minister, under whose watch more unauthorised arrivals came to Australia than ever before. And he is now equally as bad in his current opposition portfolio.

Mr Gorrel referred in his piece to a recent letter to TheSydney Morning Herald from Michael Barnacoat, who wrote: 'Labor should stop wasting its breath bagging the government and start building its own credibility by telling me how it will solve the problems of this country and give me something to vote for.' That is fair enough. He will be waiting awhile—a good, long while. Mr Gorrel added: 'One reason I went to the Graham dinner last Saturday was because Bowen was going to give us his version of what was in store for regional Australia under a Labor government.' Graham Gorrel did not think it was a good speech, Member for McMahon. He wrote: 'But we didn't get that. As for news about more dams, irrigation areas, transport systems, port developments (air and sea) and a real vision for regional Australia, both inland and coastal, nothing.' Gorrel wrote: 'Bowen missed his opportunity.' Let me tell you: Graham Gorrel is fairly impartial when it comes to this.

I will now talk about Sharon Gordon. She is an assistant teachers aide at Ariah Park Preschool. Her husband, Ian, is a farmhand. They have five kids, five grandkids and one on the way. They are what we call Middle Australia. Sharon wrote to me in an email:

You probably see them anyway but I just thought I would send you a copy of one of the Labor emails we receive and I'm sorry I responded but I really am getting so wild when I open them, I couldn't help myself yesterday. We would get a new one I suppose once a week, same tone and I don't do negativity, doesn't matter which party.

She is fed up with Labor and fed up with getting no vision from them. She is just fed up. She is like so many people in Middle Australia. I will read her email, which was to the member for Watson, which, in part, reads:

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