QUESTION TIME IN FEDERAL PARLIAMENT
WHAT WE LEARNED
* Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says he spent his summer break helping unload steel for the new inland rail project.
* Thousands of Australians families are already saving hundreds of dollars off their energy bills thanks to the government dressing down electricity retailers last year, according to the prime minister.
* The government’s second priority in Defence – after building force capability – is to use the heft of that $200 billion military build-up to create jobs in manufacturing and advanced technology.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTED TO SPIN
* The largest annual jobs growth on record – 403,000 new jobs, three-quarters full-time – occurred under the coalition’s watch in 2017 and we continue to deliver economic leadership.
WHAT LABOR WANTED TO TALK ABOUT
* Last year company profits increased 20 per cent while average wages grew just two per cent – yet the government wants to give the top end of town a $65 billion tax cut.
THEY SAID WHAT
“Manual labour, they think, is a Mexican bandit.” – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s assessment of the working class credentials of Labor MPs.
“They don’t have an economic plan to grow the economy; they just have an envy plan to dice it up and spread it around in accordance with their own prejudices.” – Treasurer Scott Morrison on the economic credentials of same.
“Isn’t it time, prime minister, to stand up for refugees, equality and a safe climate by bringing a bit of Bernie (Sanders) to Batman and electing the Greens member Alex Bhathal?” – Greens MP Adam Bandt does a bit of spruiking for the woman he hopes will join him on the crossbenches after a by-election.
“People in Sydney are not looking for the prime minister’s harbour views – they just want to be able to afford their first home.” – Emma Husar, Labor MP for Lindsay.
TWEETED
@karenlsweeney: Adam Bandt’s getting booed from both sides on his first question of 2018. Speaker interjects and says he can’t hear the question. “It wasn’t a good one anyway,” someone tells him.
Wayne Swan – @SwannyQLD: Turnbull lectures the nation on the virtues of manual labour, but his only exposure to shovel-ready projects involved a silver spoon #auspol #qt
@workmanalice: Highlight of #SenateQT – Mathias Cormann bringing back the Wibble Wobble.
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