QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator BLYTH (South Australia) (15:23): Well, it was an extraordinary question time today. We have a Prime Minister here in Australia who has difficulty in telling the truth and keeping the promises that he makes to the Australian people. This is a Prime Minister that promised the Australian people that they would save $275 in their power bills.

Now, I don't know about everyone else out there, but I'm still waiting to see that saving. Instead, my power bill has gone up much, much more than the $275 deduction that this Prime Minister promised. This prime minister fell off a stage and told everyone that he didn't, even though there was video evidence showing him falling off the stage.

This is a prime minister who said over 50 times that there would not be changes to things like the capital gains tax. Then, just as recently as the budget in May, the Prime Minister did it again and said, 'Oh, no. I've had a change.

That wasn't really a promise,' and took a very different approach to the capital gains tax. This is a prime minister who, when he does the wrong thing, doubles down rather than owning up and saying: 'You know what? I've made a mistake.' He will do anything he can to make sure he is not held accountable for the things that he says and the promises that he makes.

What we've seen in this chamber is extraordinary. Senior leading women in Labor have come out and defended in what, in my view, is indefensible. We've got a prime minister who, I would say, showed a lack of judgement by going on a podcast and who made revolting, derogatory comments about women.

But he has also brought the Japanese prime minister into that. Rather than owning up and saying, 'I probably didn't say the right thing,' or, 'I was clumsy,' he said, 'Well, I talk with my hands.' There is video evidence of the Prime Minister using quite grotesque sign language as he's talking. That is a problem because we've got a prime minister who is responsible for things like gas deals with Japan and who is responsible for giving the Australian people confidence, and he is out there basically making fun of women in a way that I find, quite frankly, offensive.

Then he's rolling out senior women in his own party to defend these actions, and they are blindly going along with it. It just makes you wonder: What matters to Labor? Does actually telling the truth matter, or is it all about spin for them and they will pretty well go out there and say whatever they are told to say by this prime minister?

It seems to be the latter. Today, when the Prime Minister was asked at a press conference to comment on what the media are now calling melongate, he needed protection from the New South Wales Premier. It is quite extraordinary that he won't even go out there and front up and answer questions.

What was really, starkly obvious in question time today was that not one single Labor minister or member jumped in to defend him. They've clearly gone: 'Maybe this isn't being spun very well out there with the Australian public. They're not buying this particular spin that we're putting on this, so we probably have to roll it back.' But it's difficult—isn't it?—when you've got a prime minister who doesn't want to roll anything back and who can't admit when he's wrong.

Anything that comes out of his mouth is not the truth. The Australian people deserve better and so do our Japanese partners and friends. Question agreed to.