Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP (Mackellar) (17:22): I have listened—'with interest ' would be the wrong words—to the nonsense coming from the other side of the chamber. I think it is time that we iterated what the problem is with this government. The problem with the government is that it is an illegitimate government. It has no legitimacy at all. You had 12 months ago the assassination of Kevin Rudd at the hand of 'Lady Macbeth', otherwise known as Julia Gillard, who did him in, took the job and became— Mr Albanese: Mr Deputy Speaker, the member for Mackellar knows full well she must refer to members by their title. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Hon. BC Scott ): I call the member for Mackellar. She will refer to members in the chamber by their seat or their title. Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP: So we had the Prime Minister of this day assassinate the previous Prime Minister, the member for Griffith, 12 months ago and usurp his position, announcing at the time that she would ask the Governor-General permission to hold an election so that she could in fact have a mandate in her own name in order to govern. We went to that election and there was no outcome. The Prime Minister was not elected. The opposition won the majority of primary votes. We saw that there was then a frenzied attempt to stitch up a deal, just as there had been a deal struck up 12 months ago. This time we had the performance of the various Independents, who were strutting their stuff in their moment of grandeur. They finally agreed that they would back up the Prime Minister for the purposes of allowing the budget to pass and that they would not support a no confidence motion. That does not make the government legitimate. It does not make the Prime Minister legitimate. It means that she is floundering every day and every week, having to consult with the Independents about what it is that they want, to see how she can serve their needs, to see how they can be accommodated. In the meantime, ordinary members of the Labor Party are left to flounder because their needs come second to appeasing the demands of the Independents. It does not matter what the issue is. It does not matter whether it is suddenly having to deal with the difficult issue of the live export of cattle, where the original decision that was taken by the minister was the correct one. Because she was once again leant on by an Independent who wanted something, the whole of the policy was overturned and a complete ban was put in place. There was no consideration at all—none—for those people whose livelihoods were at stake. There was no consideration about their families, about their aspirations. It was simply: 'How can I appease one of the Independents so that I can cling to power?' That is all she cares about—clinging to power. Mr Chester: And the Greens. Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP: The Greens are always going to vote for the Labor Party. It does not matter whether she has to appease them in this chamber. Of course, in the Senate after 1 July we will start to see the Greens exercising their power and insisting that they get their way on so many things. We have the prospect of Lee Rhiannon coming into the Senate, who has great form when we see her track record in the New South Wales upper house. We remember that it was her parents who founded the Communist Party and, when the split occurred, they stuck with Stalin despite the dreadful record of what Stalin was doing to the Russian people. We have a great venue for conflict coming up in the Senate when we look at that behaviour and the squabbling that will occur between the Greens. In this matter of public importance discussion we are looking at the failure of this stitched-up deal, with the Prime Minister attempting to govern and failing to govern competently for the simple reason that she is not legitimately in that position. If we look at the carbon tax issue, it is a classic. Six days before the election, it was: 'There will be no carbon tax by any government I lead.' It was, categorically, 'Believe me, Australian people, I am telling you the truth.' That was Julia telling us, 'Trust me, I will not do this to you.' When she got in, of course that was overturned and we are to have this great big carbon tax. Even in question time today the Prime Minister could not tell the truth. She was asked a question and she insisted that she was in surplus. We are promised one for 2013, but we certainly have not got one now. At every instance in her answers today, we saw a complete miasma of lies—a virus, if you like. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Mackellar will withdraw that reflection on the Prime Minister. Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP: Miasma? The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, lies. Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP: I think the Manager of Government Business does not know what a miasma is, so I will withdraw it. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, you used the word 'lies'. Mr Albanese: Mr Deputy Speaker, it is an outrageous abuse that the member for Mackellar, when asked to withdraw by you, has chosen not to do so. She clearly did not withdraw what you specifically asked her to withdraw. She should do so. She should do so unconditionally. I know that she thinks parliament is sitting on 24 December, but she should get this right. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Mackellar, I did require you to withdraw those comments. You used the word 'lies' and that is what I ask you to withdraw. Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP: I thought you said that I was reflecting on someone. I was reflecting that there was a miasma. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, I asked you to withdraw the word 'lies'. Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP: I will withdraw it if you wish, Mr Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Not if I wish. I do ask you to withdraw the use of the word 'lies'. Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP: I withdraw it. But I am curious about the poor old Manager of Government Business over there; in question time today he was talking about the year being 2010. He is getting all sorts of things mixed up. We will go back to talking about the lack of legitimacy of this government and the carbon tax. This is a tax which the Labor Party has wished to liken to the GST. The difference with the GST was that we in fact repealed and abolished the wholesale sales tax and then we went to the people with the proposition that we should have a GST, because we previously said there would not be one. We went to the election and we were successful in that election and that came about. The carbon tax is the Labor Party's Work Choices. Just as the Labor Party repealed Work Choices, we will repeal their carbon tax if they are successful in passing it. They showed it was quite clearly a 'can be done'. Just as they said they would repeal it, we will— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Hon. BC Scott ): Order! The time allotted for this discussion has now expired.