MATTERS OF URGENCY
Senator KOVACIC (New South Wales) (16:18): I've been listening to the contributions from those on the other side of the chamber, and I understand that it's very hard to defend the indefensible. It is very clear to all Australians, not just those people in this chamber, that the Prime Minister hasn't told the truth. That is a problem.
That is not a point of political theatre. That is not a political stunt. It is the truth.
The Prime Minister himself has changed his story around what happened here. The Prime Minister insists that he didn't know what questions he was going to be asked, but the podcaster tells us that those questions were answered. The Prime Minister has told us that he was sought out to do this podcast.
The podcaster tells us that the Prime Minister reached out to her. Why does this matter? This matters because it's important for Australians to be able to trust their leadership.
At a time when there is an absolute breakdown of trust in institutions around the world, as well as here in Australia, and a breakdown of trust in government, the last thing that Australians need is for their prime minister not to tell them the truth, and it goes to integrity. This prime minister has said that the truth is his bond. That hasn't happened here.
He hasn't told the truth. Senator Dolega made the comment that our suggestion that there has been a series of broken promises doesn't stack up. It certainly does stack up, and I'll take the government's changes on negative gearing and CGT as exhibit A.
This prime minister, 50 times, said: 'I've told you that I'm not going to make any changes. They're off the table.' But, after the election, when he was elected by Australians based on those false promises, he said that the government's position had changed. That's a broken promise.
That is saying one thing to get elected and then, once you're elected, doing exactly the thing that you said you wouldn't do. That is not integrity, that is not telling the truth and that is not the act of a transparent government or a transparent prime minister. The reason I raise that is that it has now become a pattern of behaviour.
Senator Ruston raised the issue of the Prime Minister falling off the step during the last election campaign. He couldn't even admit that that's what had happened. Why?
Who cares? We can all take a bit of a tumble or a misstep. What difference does it make if you say you tripped, fell over or made a mistake?
What the Prime Minister should've done here in relation to this podcast was say: 'You know what? I got it wrong. I shouldn't have participated in this podcast.
I shouldn't have answered those questions. I shouldn't have had this podcast hosted in the Lodge, which belongs to all Australians of which any prime minister is simply a custodian, and it was a mistake to make vulgar and inappropriate comments about prominent females'—one Australian and one Japanese prime minister. It's not good enough.
We expect better than that, and the fact that we have had the Prime Minister ducking and weaving in relation to that makes it even worse. I totally reject the comments that this is about political theatre or that this is a political stunt. This is about holding the Prime Minister of this country to account and telling him that, when you do not tell the truth to Australians, we will hold you accountable for that.
Australians deserve to be told the truth. They don't deserve to be misled by their prime minister. They don't deserve to be made to think that they got it wrong or that they misunderstood what the Prime Minister meant.
It is blatantly clear to anybody that watched that podcast what the Prime Minister said and what the Prime Minister meant, and I'm very sorry in particular to the women opposite that have had to defend it. The PRESIDENT: The question is the urgency motion moved by Senator Cash be agreed to.