We get a dixer about how great the economy is, before moving on to Joel Fitzgibbon asking Scott Morrison:
I refer him to the statement by the member for New England yesterday. He said, “If they want to work in a work bipartisan way, I’m not going to knock that.” Prime Minister, why won’t you listen to the member for New England and more importantly to farmers and rural communities and convene a cross-party drought cabinet to adequately respond to the growing drought crisis?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, the members of the Labor Party who sit on this frontbench here can’t even operate functionally in a shadow cabinet, Mr Speaker.
Tony Pasin begins pounding on his desk like this is the best thing he has ever heard in his life.
Morrison:
Let alone actually participate in an actual cabinet at the end of the day, Mr Speaker. We learned today – we learned today with Labor historian Troy Bramston, in an article in The Australian – a Labor frontbencher, a member of the shadow cabinet of which the Leader of the Opposition leads, Mr Speaker – I don’t know who it was but happy to take suggestions. I’m sure they’ll be made to journalists later, Mr Speaker.
Albanese tries a point of order on relevance, but we move on
Morrison:
And the quote read from a Labor frontbencher referring to the Leader of the Opposition, “For a guy who wanted to be leader so bad and couldn’t wait to announce he was running for it less than 24 hours after the election, he does not know what to do with the job”, Mr Speaker.
That is what the shadow frontbencher, whoever they are, says about this Leader of the Opposition and this Leader of the Opposition thinks he should be sitting in a cabinet making decisions on this side of the place.
Now, Mr Speaker, to address the issue of drought, now this is a very serious issue – one in which the Government convened a National Drought Summit and sought to work on a bipartisan fashion at that time with the opposition and I recall the observations being made outside that drought summit by the very member who asked this question – even before he got inside the room, he was already attacking the future drought fund, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, if we’re going to work by – on a bipartisan basis on this issue, we have not seen the policies that the opposition might be suggesting, but equally I would say this – the response that we’re providing is comprehensive. It is dealing firstly with the assistance directly to farm households whether they be farmers or graziers or others, it is investing in the district communities that need the support to work through the drought and provide the resilience for the future. Now, Mr Speaker, it is a serious issue and they have referred to the suggestion of a war cabinet.
I remind them of the history – even when this nation was actually in war, Mr Speaker, there was not a war cabinet of the nature suggested by, Mr Speaker, the member who asked this question. I think it’s important that we will continue to consult widely as we do, listening, most importantly, to farmers and the rural districts who we will continue to work with, Mr Speaker.
The only politics being played on drought are by those who sit opposite.
