Address to Launch of the Federal Coalition Campaign, Brisbane
Sunday, 08 August 2010
E&OE…
Liberals, Nationals, friends all. This would have to be one of the extraordinary elections of all time. Just six weeks ago the “detested cast of ruthless robotic machine men” of Labor – and that is what they call themselves – hatched a plot to remove from office a first term Prime Minister thus denying the Australian people the opportunity to pass judgement on his performance at an election.We were told that the Rudd Government had lost its way. Julia Gillard was the solution to the Kevin Rudd problem. Then the Gillard Government lost its way and the “real” Julia was the solution to the “fake” Julia problem. And now we are meant to believe that Kevin Rudd is the solution to the “real” Julia problem?
One thing is crystal clear from all of this. No one knows who is leading the Labor Party at present and no one will know who is going to lead Labor after the election.
Remember when Julia Gillard said she had to solve three of Kevin Rudd’s problems and then she would call the election? Trouble is no one knows what she has been up to because it is all so secret.
First there was the mining tax. Well the negotiations were so secret only three mining companies were in on it and 3,000 mining companies were excluded, and they are not happy Julia!
Then there was the issue of asylum seekers and boat people. And Labor is negotiating to establish a processing centre on East Timor. The only problem, East Timor knows nothing about it! Who are these people negotiating with? Problem not fixed.
Then there was the problem of climate change. Well Labor’s policy on climate change is so secret they won’t be releasing it before the election. But after the election 150 people will be herded into a Big Brother style house and they have to stay there until they have designed Labor’s climate change policy, but if they don’t design a carbon tax they will be voted out of the house.
But there is more.
The preference deal between the Greens and Labor is so secret that neither Julia Gillard nor Bob Brown know anything about it.
And then there was the deal Julia had to do with Kevin to try and make him go quietly. Now that is so secret she is going to take it to her grave. Fortunately Kevin doesn’t feel so constrained.
And now we have the power sharing arrangement between the “real” Julia and the “new” Kevin. The trouble is we need an interpreter for body language because they’re not speaking to each other.
Honestly ladies and gentlemen this is a national soap opera not a government. And don’t worry about the Bold and the Beautiful, the Young and the Restless, try the Vain and the Ruthless.
But seriously, this is a government in deep disarray; this is a highly dysfunctional government. But ladies and gentlemen there is a solution; Tony Abbott and the Coalition team can restore competent government to Australia.
We are an experienced team. Many of us have served as Ministers in a competent Coalition Government. And Government is not a game, it is not a job for amateurs.
We know how to govern competently because we’ve done it before. We know how to pay off Labor’s $96 billion debt, we’ve done it before. We know how to take Labor’s budget deficits and turn it into a surplus because we’ve done it before. We know how to turn back the boats because we’ve done that before. We will stop the boats! And we know how to respect taxpayers’ money and not waste it because we’ve done that before.
When we were running a school building program it was universally applauded for giving schools what they wanted and giving taxpayers value for money.
Our parliamentary team is made up of men and women from every walk of life across Australia and our new candidates are, if elected, going to reflect the diversity of the Australian society. Not for us the shallow gene pool of the unions.
Now take for instance, Ken Wyatt in the seat of Hasluck in Western Australia, an indigenous health expert. If Ken Wyatt is elected to the seat of Hasluck he will be the first indigenous Australian to take a seat in the House of Representatives in Australia’s history.
Take Natasha Griggs in the seat of Solomon in the Northern Territory. Natasha is an IT consultant, she has worked in the private and public sector.
Take Jassmine Wood in the seat of Hindmarsh in South Australia. With her husband she runs a small business finding water solutions.
Take the seat of Braddon in Tasmania where Garry Carpenter is a dairy farmer and a sports administrator.
The seat of Corangamite in Victoria where Sarah Henderson, a former reporter and journalist, is a single mum.
And take the seat of Lindsay in New South Wales where Fiona Scott, born and bread in western Sydney is a young professional women, a marketing executive.
And in the seat of Longman in Queensland – if Wyatt Roy is elected to parliament he will be the youngest person to take a seat in the House of Representatives, and as Wyatt says “if at 20 you are old enough to serve your country in wars overseas, you are old enough to serve your country in parliament.”
Tony Abbott leads a united team and we are a team that is ready to govern.
Tony Abbott has dedicated his entire life to serving others. Tony Abbott has directed his efforts and his energies and his talents to the betterment of other people whether it is as a volunteer fireman, as a surf lifesaver, as an elected representative, as a Cabinet Minister.
Tony is a highly intelligent person and a deep thinker. He won a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford. He has a law and an economics degree from Sydney University. He is the only leader in this election formally trained in economics.
Tony Abbott was a competent Health Minister in the Howard Government. His record was outstanding particularly in relation to women’s health and the work that he did in relation to women’s cancers. Because of Tony Abbott’s work thousands and thousands of women with cancer in Australia are alive today and they thank Tony Abbott for it.
Tony Abbott has many friends, they are everywhere. From his days in kindergarten through to his time as the Leader of the Opposition, Tony makes friends for life. And over the last few days I’ve contacted a number of people who are close to Tony Abbott. They talk of his loyalty, his compassion, his good humour, his calm under pressure, he is unflappable. And every one of them, men and women alike, said that if ever they were in trouble, if ever they needed help, Tony Abbott would be the first person they would turn to. That is the kind of friend that he is.
Today Tony Abbott is joined by his parliamentary colleagues, Members and Senators who’ve flown here from across Australia to support him. He is joined by friends and supporters from around this country and he is joined by his family; his mum and his dad, two of his sisters, two of his daughters, and his wonderful wife Margie.
Ladies and gentlemen, Tony Abbott and the Coalition team will stand up for Australia and stand up for real action!
