Senator CASH (Western Australia) (15:07): I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Senator Conroy) to a question without notice asked by Senator Back today relating to Western Australia and the Prime Minister. It is one thing for an opposition to criticise the current Prime Minister, Ms Gillard, for her grotesque failure of policy in this country, but I have to say that it takes it to a whole new level when an entire state division of the Australian Labor Party—and, of course, I mean the great state of Western Australia's division—issues an edict stating that the Prime Minister of Australia and her federal colleagues are not to cross the border and are not to come anywhere near Western Australia in the lead-up to the state election. I take you to the report in the Australian on 23 February by Samantha Maiden headed 'Gillard told "keep out of WA"'. On reading this report, I almost feel personally embarrassed for the Prime Minister. Samantha Maiden's report states: We rang everyone in December and said, 'Please, don't come'— to Western Australia. That is a Labor strategist speaking. Can you just imagine them sitting in their offices and picking up the phone to the Prime Minister and picking up the phone to Labor ministers and saying, 'Oh please, please, if you do anything, don't come near Western Australia because we are so on the nose in Western Australia that, if you do cross that border, if you are seen standing next to us, it is going to be a bad election result for Labor in any event but this will make it a total disaster'? Let's read it again because it is just so embarrassing: 'We rang everyone in December and said, "Please don't come"' to WA. But what does Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten do? He flies into Western Australia regardless, because he could not care less what Labor strategists say. He could not care less what the Prime Minister says. Let us face it: we all know where he wants to be, and that is in the Prime Minister's position. So what have they said about good old Mr Shorten, who flew into Western Australia on a 'fly-in fly-out visit', as they have termed it? It has prompted much mirth amongst Labor MPs, who have suggested that he must have received special air clearance to actually undertake that visit. You have to wonder who gave him that special air clearance. Senator Abetz: The MUA. Senator CASH: Exactly. The MUA—good old Labor union mates. Seriously, Mr Deputy President, you can actually see Mr McGowan, can't you, sitting in his office and thinking, 'I've got this great thing happening'? It is almost like: 'It is my party, Ms Gillard. I will invite who I want to, and I can tell you: you ain't on my list of people who will be coming over.' As most senators and members would know, we spend hours going through the invitations that come to our office and working out: 'Can we? Can't we? Should I make it a priority? Should I juggle my diary to ensure that I can get to a certain event?' The good news for the Prime Minister is that she can do a lot of juggling, because she is not allowed to get on that plane to make the almost five-hour journey west and go anywhere near Western Australia. Her staff are probably in her office on a daily basis thinking, 'Please, please, something from WA.' But the edict is very, very clear. The Labor Party in Western Australia have spoken. Federal Labor should not and will not come anywhere near our great state. Why is that? Mark McGowan, the leader of state Labor, has made it very clear. He has totally ditched Labor's carbon tax. Why has he ditched it? Because he knows it is an impost on business. It is an impost on families. He knows that federal Labor should ditch that policy. He also knows that Labor's mining resource rent tax is an anti-WA tax, and this is, of course, despite the federal member for Brand, Gary Gray, proudly standing in the parliament in its last sitting and stating: The mining tax is an outstanding tax, works effectively and has many, many benefits. The people of Brand should be very, very worried when their own federal representative supports a tax that is vehemently anti-Western Australia and is the one tax that the Labor Party introduced which raises next to no money. And then, Mr Deputy President—and do not start me on it—there is the Western Australian position on Australia's borders. They were behind John Howard every single step of the way. The question that the Labor Party at a federal level need to ask themselves is: 'If state Labor have worked out that those three policies are not in the interests of Western Australia, when is the federal government going to work that out?' (Time expired)