Senator O'SULLIVAN (Queensland) (16:44): I have to say that Senator Polley has distracted me. I had a whole speech here, prepared with dotpoints. My staffers researched it, and now I have to abandon it— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Gallacher ): Senator Polley, on a point of order? Senator Polley: I have done nothing at all to distract the senator. What I have done is to put on record the failings of this government. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: There is no point of order. Senator O'SULLIVAN: I hope the clock was stopped for that. Let me address some of Senator Polley's points. I have been observing this for about 12 months now, particularly during these opportunities pursuant to standing order 75 to listen to the topics that have been chosen by the Australian Labor Party. When you listen to their contributions, there is nothing. There is no contribution. It is just a hollow vessel—complaining, whining and whingeing. I had a bearing like that in the back of my ute a couple of weeks ago. Give it a shot of grease and the noise went away. That is what you and the Labor Party need, Senator Polley: you need a bucket of grease, because all you do is whinge and whine. It is all negative. There is no alternative; there is no 'You don't get it right with education—here's what you should do.' Senator Polley interjecting— Senator O'SULLIVAN: There is nothing. In question time we never get a question on education. When Kim Carr—when Senator Carr wakes up on the odd occasion we get one on science about once every 18 months. We do not get anything on the economy— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Polley, on a point of order? Senator Polley: I would like to draw to the senator's attention that he should use people's titles in this chamber. He is Senator Carr. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I remind Senator O'Sullivan to observe the standing orders and refer to senators by their correct titles. Senator O'SULLIVAN: I will make every effort. I have made the point before: you always know that you are on the money when the members of the Labor Party stand up to interrupt your delivery. Let's talk about what this government has done, because, unlike yourselves, I am prepared to make a positive contribution. I am not frightened to lay down the programs, initiatives and achievements of this government. They have been enormous. This has been one of the most active governments on delivery for the Australian people that we have seen in my adult lifetime. Let's just run through a few things from my home state of Queensland— Senator Polley interjecting— Senator O'SULLIVAN: I cannot even hear myself think with Senator Polley going off like polly with a cracker. Our Commonwealth government has just lodged about $10 billion into the upgrade of the Bruce Highway in my home state of Queensland. It will affect dozens upon dozens of communities and, more importantly, the economies of those rural and provincial communities and, in fact, some big, proud cities—Townsville, where the good senator's office is; Cairns; Rockhampton; Bundaberg. The investment by our government is going to almost flood-proof the Bruce Highway. It is going to upgrade it for all those billions of dollars of trade and development that occurs up and down our coastline. We are going to have an efficient method—do not go, Senator Polley, you should listen to some of this—of delivery of goods to our ports to underpin our great terms of trade. We already heard today about the wonderful terms of trade figures that came out on the weekend. This government delivered the Range Crossing. Under Labor they seesawed, they hummed and haaed for six years. Not one thing did they do towards the development of that terrific initiative to build the Range Crossing so that all the products of our trade-exposed nation—over 70 per cent of what we produce, including 66 per cent of the beef sector, a commodity now worth about $10.5 billion to our economy, to your welfare, to underpinning the wealth of this nation, comes down the Range Crossing. Who was it that built the Range Crossing? That would be this government. That is not taking into account the half a billion dollars spent on the Warrego Highway or the half a billion that is now pledged and is in the planning phase to put beef roads all over the state to create a trunk road network up there that will just enhance this $10.5 billion. Labor wants to talk about comparisons. Let's talk about things like the live export trade. Let me ask you, Senator Macdonald—I know you do not have a calculator, but I suspect you might get this one—in 2011 how many cattle were exported to Indonesia and other places, the live cattle that underpin the massive beef industry of northern Australia? How many were there? I heard you—there were none, because you brought that trade to its knees. There are thousands—in fact, tens of thousands—of families who continue to have that play through their balances sheets, affecting them. There is a generation of farmers who have lost their farms and businesses; industries that disappeared off the face of the planet in the Northern Territory. What did we do? We reinstated that trade, and now Australia exports more live cattle into the region than anyone else in the world, restoring—though not for the poor people who fell over or were pushed over by Labor policies—confidence in that marketplace and allowing people to build businesses, with the dignity that comes with that, in northern Australia. Let's just deal with northern Australia. My good friend here, Senator Macdonald, played a very significant and influential part in an inquiry that our government conducted. Where did it end up? What would Labor have done for northern Australia in the whole time they were there? That would be nothing, starting with an 'n' and finishing with a 'g'. Absolutely nothing. But our government put in place a $5 billion— Senator Bilyk interjecting— Senator O'SULLIVAN: It is good to see you can make a contribution there now that you are no longer the whip, Senator Bilyk. We put a fund of $5 billion in to develop northern Australia, right across the country— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Bilyk, on a point of order? Senator Bilyk: Senator O'Sullivan, I may no longer be the deputy whip, but I can certainly still contribute, and you might just want to take note of that. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: There is no point of order. Senator O'SULLIVAN: I might point out to you, Mr Acting Deputy President, that is the fourth failed point of order made by the colleagues on the other side. It is just meant to disrupt my delivery. It really does grind on them when these achievements are listed one after the other after they have had 10 minutes talking in such a nefarious fashion suggesting that this government has not done anything. We roll these achievements out one after the other. We are a government that has a plan. We are a government that told the people of Australia what we would do. They endorsed us. They put us back in power. That is what they did. They rejected this negative, hollow vacuum of a policy arrangement with the Australian Labor Party and the Greens. They are frightened of the Greens. We have seem that in the decline in the vote for the Greens party. I know that it really gets on your goat over that side when we are able to list one project after another—billions of dollars, even in the tough economic climate that you left us. So let me say this: when we get a statement 'the inability of the Turnbull government to provide stable, united leadership', well, what an absolute nonsense. Those achievements that I have outlined—and I am certain that Senator Macdonald is going to outline a couple hundred more—cannot happen unless you have a stable, majority government well led right across this nation. This nation has benefited from Turnbull and Abbott. It will continue to benefit because of the stability that we bring to the administration of the Commonwealth of the great nation of Australia.