Mr MARLES (Corio—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:34): It is such a disappointment. Indeed, it is fast becoming a national disappointment. The Prime Minister of Australia is said to have taken on an impossible task. In his own words, he 'performed a miracle' in winning an unwinnable election. This is the man who, after years of short-term prime ministers, was meant to be the great figure who would bring harmony back to the political universe. This is the man who is reputed to be above all the political spin and politics of this place and who, it is said, has a unique ability to speak to the heart of 'the quiet Australians'. This is man who, it is alleged, is the new John Howard of this country. Nine months on, it is now abundantly clear that all of that is just a marketing campaign of the cheapest order. This is not a man who rails against 'the Canberra bubble'; this is a man who revels in the fact that he lives in 'the Canberra bubble'. This is not a man who empathises with ordinary Australian; this is a man who, since day one, has seen himself as born to sit in this chair inside this building. This is a man who has an enormous self-belief. But his complete conviction in the correctness of literally every step he takes leaves no corner in his heart for the wisdom of anyone else, and certainly not for the voice of the Australian people. All we have seen since he was elected is a man who is loose with the truth, a man who is constantly engaging in double-down, and a man who is leading a government that is incompetent. Look at the economy. Last May, he said his government was getting the economy back on track and back into the black. But what is the reality of that? Since he became Prime Minister, economic growth has slowed. Underemployment has increased to a point where two million Australians are now looking for work. We've got the worst wages growth on record. Household debt is surging. We now have a situation where people are making the most appalling decisions about what they cannot buy at the supermarket with the money they do not have. And, never forget, it is the Liberals who, since coming to government, have more than doubled the debt. And then we see the most astonishing performance, with the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction. Amid all the challenges that this minister faces, he decides to engage in taking pot shots at a local mayor about travel expenses; and, in the process, he circulates a dodgy, doctored document to local newspapers. It's low rent. It's student politics. It's profoundly stupid. But, as it turns out, there is a question about whether it might be— Mr Hawke: Mr Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: I am loath to interrupt this self-immolation, but the member at the dispatch box accused the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction of circulating 'a dodgy document'. That has been dispelled by the police today. He accused him personally of doing it. That has been dispelled today and the member should withdraw that accusation. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will leave it to the discretion of the member for Corio. Mr MARLES: That is not a fact that has been dispelled at all. Mr Hawke: The facts are right. Mr MARLES: You need to read the letter. The fact of the matter is that the question as to whether it broke the law was significant enough in the minds of the New South Wales Police that they established Strike Force Garrad to investigate it. And what does this Prime Minister do in that moment? He rings a person who he describes as one of his best friends, the New South Wales Police Commissioner, to talk to him about it. Can you think of a less appropriate action for an Australian Prime Minister to take? The former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said it would have been much better had that call not been made. David Ipp, the former anti-corruption commissioner, said an ordinary citizen would not be able to get that information from the police. So what is it about the Prime Minister that entitles him to that information? But what do we hear from the Prime Minister when it's all put to him? What we get is double-down. He comes in here and he says: As I told the House four times yesterday, I was going to talk to the New South Wales police, I don't know who they thought I was going to call. Did they think I was going to call the parking infringements officer at the Sutherland police station? Maybe I was going to call the water police, or the dog squad … This is a Prime Minister who makes light of the most serious matters. When it comes to the question of climate change all we hear from this Prime Minister are matters which are simply not true. Here's the fact: during the Rudd and Gillard government, emissions fell by 15 per cent; since this government's been in place, emissions have been going in the wrong direction. The Prime Minister says that they are on track to meet Kyoto—they are not. The Prime Minister says that they will meet the Paris targets. It's business as usual at the moment—they will not. And then we get to the question of this most tragic of summers and the performance of this Prime Minister. Never forget 4 January 2020. On that day, the temperature in Penrith hit 48.9 degrees. On that day, the entire South Coast of New South Wales was being ordered to evacuate, as it was under threat. One-hundred and fifty fires burned across New South Wales, 80 of them out of control and 12 at emergency level because of ferocious strong winds. Batemans Bay residents were stuck because of the threat that they were under. The New South Wales Premier, describing the situation as very volatile, said, 'It's not safe to move, it is not safe to leave these areas.' The New South Wales RFS Commissioner said, 'The focus becomes saving lives and saving property as much as we can.' This was rated as one of the most catastrophic days of the entire bushfire season, and on that day, of all days, what did this Prime Minister do? He cut a party political ad. He cut a party political ad which referred to the Australian Defence Force and which had images of the Australian Army, and at the end of it, there was a button where you could donate to the Liberal Party of Australia. Let me say this: the honour and sacrifice of the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force do not belong to Scott Morrison or the Liberal Party. They belong to this nation. And the idea that he would go out there and seek to politicise that on that day is one of the single most astounding acts I've seen since I've been in politics. Indeed, Piers Morgan, the conservative commentator for ITV in the UK said: Wow. A self-promotional commercial with cheesy elevator music? This is one of the most tone-deaf things I've ever seen a country's leader put out during a crisis. Shameless & shameful. That was Piers Morgan. The fact of the matter is this: character is not defined by the good days. Every one of us enjoys the experience of success. But character is all about the bad days; it is defined by the bad days. In a crisis—in this case, in a national crisis—character and what occurs on that day opens a door and a light shines on what is laid bare within. And the truth is that over the last few months, what we have seen in the face of adversity is the incredible character of ordinary Australians. The Victorian Country Fire Authority reported just yesterday that it's received 5,400 inquiries in the last few weeks about becoming a volunteer. We've seen drop-in centres overwhelmed. We've seen charities flooded with money. We've seen kids wanting to donate their own pocket money and this country has been flooded with goodwill from around the world. In the last few months, in respect of ordinary Australians, we've seen them shine in sacrifice and service. But that character has stopped short at the door of this Prime Minister. Because this is a Prime Minister who has completely failed to show leadership in this country. There has been no empathy or support for the Australian people from this Prime Minister. This is a Prime Minister who dodges responsibility at every opportunity. And rather than going out there and standing with ordinary Australians, being about them, he is all about doing whatever he can to stay in that chair inside this building. This Prime Minister is not a man of the people. This is a Prime Minister who is 100 per cent entirely focused on himself.