Mr CHAMPION (Wakefield) (09:42): Well, we are all stunned by the comprehensive defence that the minister is putting up on his measures today—sitting there like an Easter Island statue, looking blankly at us all. What is there to talk about? What is there for the parliament to talk about? We all know that this budget is an exercise in incoherence, desperation and defeat. We knew that from the moment the Treasurer got up here and started with his very positive message that families had not had a pay rise and how sorry he was about how tough times were. Four years of this government, and all it has is an opening with an apology about how bad things have got and this vague hope that things might get better in the future. Why would you believe this government when the very next day it rolls in here with its zombie measures, and what is its defence for them? Nothing. 'I move the motion.' It is like, 'Whoa.' And this guy wants to be Prime Minister, Treasurer or something like that. We have this comprehensive defence of these measures that have been hanging around. They are not called zombie measures by mistake. They are zombie measures in every sense of the word—cuts that were in there which were calculated in the budget and which were spreading uncertainty within the community. Lots of people worried about their family incomes. Lots of people worried about what was going to happen to their benefits for months and months or years and years on end—a thousand days of uncertainty spreading through the economy. Those on the backbench are all up there, all voting for them, all going out there in the community and defending them. And what do we get after all of that? This sort of stunned silence from the minister—not even a word of defence. We know the Prime Minister was there on Sky News or Fran Kelly. Fran said, 'Are they bad measures?' Mr Turnbull gave one of his great orations: 'It's not a question of whether they're good or bad. They were measures which we believed had merit.' So they have given up. It is like The Grand Old Duke of York, isn't it? He had 10,000 men—10,000 backbenchers. And up they went to the top of the hill and everybody sort of waited around for something to happen for 1,000 days. And then— Ms Macklin: Marched them down again! Mr CHAMPION: They marched them down again. They did not even get an order, though. There was no inspiring order to go back down the hill from this minister. Instead we got silence. We know that these measures are incredibly unfair. In my electorate, there are lots of young unemployed people. They find it very difficult to get a job despite the participation rates being very high. They go out from school and try to get a job, often a casual job. They try to go to TAFE or uni. They try their very best but often they do not get that chance. It is very difficult if you come from Elizabeth or Salisbury to get your foot in the door. Often there is a great deal of discrimination against these people based on their postcode. And people do not give them the go that they deserve. Previous Labor governments have been all about putting in place the programs that might give these young people a chance and the resources they need for a chance. What does this government do? On the same day that they are knocking off their zombie measures—all these cuts; they are very quietly sneaking in here and hitting the reverse button—in the very same breath they are out there running this ridiculous line that they are going to drug test in three locations: a pilot scheme and another feasibility study. It is something to occupy the minds of a few people. And people get worked up about it. But what have we got in the end? A pilot scheme in three locations and no real help for people with substance abuse issues, because the government have cut the guts out of all the alcohol and drug services across the country in the health budget. They have absolutely cut the guts out of it. Ms Macklin: That is right. Mr CHAMPION: It is a tough thing to get job ready, particularly if you are going into a tough physical job. Not everybody can do it. I doubt the minister or many of the backbench could work in a packing shed, pick fruit or any of those things. Rather than getting people job ready, this government just wants to persecute and beat up on the unemployed. That is the one thing they have not given up, at least rhetorically, in this budget. At the same time, they are taking out these zombie measures. But, in that later part of the budget, there is a sting in the tail of this rhetoric, which is all about dividing the community and preventing us from making progress. In this sense, the budget is entirely consistent with what they have been doing for the last 1,000 days, and yet we have this surrender this morning. Perhaps that is why the minister had nothing to say. Perhaps that is why he is stunned into silence. He could not work this in with their normal— Ms Macklin: He doesn't believe it. Mr CHAMPION: He doesn't really believe it. Perhaps this is a strategic retreat from these cuts. We can go through them—a six-month wait. I have trouble keeping up with it, because it is such an exercise in incoherence. We have the bloke who is auditioning for Prime Minister every single day. Ms Macklin: At least he would have said something. Mr CHAMPION: At least he would have said something. At least he would have done a better audition than 'I move the motion.' Ms Macklin: At least he would have had a go. Mr CHAMPION: They will know about that shortly, I guess. They will know about how good the opposition are, because we are going to hold them to account on all of these things—for instance, what they are doing for pensioners. They are giving them $75 with one hand and tearing away $365 with the other. If they think any pensioner across Australia is going to be fooled with this pea and thimble trick, this three-card monte, they have another think coming. People understand the sort of cant and ridiculous sleight of hand that this government does. They are desperately trying to pretend that this budget is some sort of equivalent to a Labor budget, but, at the same time, there are all these things riddled throughout it which are part of their poisonous and sterile ideology, such as hacking into working mums who work at Coles, Myers and Woolworths. They are the working mums who suffer the most from the capping of the paid parental leave. We have this government out there calling them— Ms Macklin: Frauds. Mr CHAMPION: Frauds. Ms Macklin: Rorters. Mr CHAMPION: Rorters. Mr Dreyfus: Double dippers. Mr CHAMPION: Double dippers. These are working mums at Coles, Woolworths and Myers. These are places where we never thought we could get paid parental leave. It was a great achievement for unions to get paid parental leave in these sectors that are dominated by working women. Yet what does this government get out there and do for them, for their hard work, for their thrift, for them showing up every day at work? They label them as rorters, frauds and double dippers. It is just outrageous that on top of a tax to pensioners, young people and families we get this sort of surrender this morning—a half-hearted surrender. Well, it was not even that. I do not know what it was. Ms Macklin: Silence! Mr CHAMPION: It is hard to argue with silence. Maybe they should extend this right across the government: give no interviews; not show up for any of the debates. Opposition members interjecting— Mr CHAMPION: The PMO does not let the minister out of the box. It must be galling for a former state treasurer to be struck into silence. The backbenchers, as you can see, are roaring in here to your defence. They are really keen to defend you! An opposition member interjecting—They are scheming. Mr CHAMPION: Yes, they are scheming. We know that this government is terribly divided. We saw that in the schools debate this week. We will see that later on. After the first wave of good headlines that for some reason the media in this country insist on giving the coalition—I do not know whether it is the lock-up that captures them—it will all wear off within a week or two and the bad things in this budget, the sterile, poisonous ideology that the people opposite pursue, the economic uncertainty that is riddled throughout the economy will all catch up with them, and then the auditions will begin again. The member for Dickson will be in here auditioning at the dispatch box. Maybe we will have the colt from Kooyong. We will have others. The member for Warringah is ever present in their minds, plotting a pathway back to the prime ministership via opposition. That is what this government has to give the people of Australia. (Time expired)