MARK DREYFUS MP

Abbott and his attorney general should learn something from the fate of the Newman government and immediately abandon their attack on the rights of Australians and the rule of law.

Australia wants governments with the ability to weather criticism with dignity, that have the integrity not to attack those institutions we have put deliberately beyond their control. Abbott and his ministers should be ashamed of themselves.

The vast majority of the Australian public have made it clear that they utterly reject Brandis' deeply misguided views about bigotry in public debate.

Australians from all sides of politics should be proud of the principled position our nation has taken against commercial whaling, a position we have fought for since the time of Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke. And Australians from all sides of politics should be proud that with this legal victory we have brought an end to Japan's whaling program - a program that has killed over 10,000 whales under the guise of scientific research.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and the Liberals have made it clear that they will oppose every government policy - lobbing everything they've got at us by way of attack.

The creation of the Biodiversity Fund demonstrates Labor's continued commitment to deliver good outcomes for the Australian environment.

Australians are proud of their economy and so they should be - it is one of the strongest in the advanced world.

This week marks 20 years since the superannuation guarantee was announced in the 1991 budget by then Labor treasurer John Kerin; an announcement that laid the groundwork for the superannuation system as we know it today.

Mr Abbott said on national TV you can't believe anything he says, so there's every chance he won't honour his pledge to leave in place the increase in the super guarantee, which of course will mean Australian workers retiring with lower savings while hugely profitable mining companies get a tax break.

Julie Bishop's criticism that Australian businesses should not be able to buy international carbon permits reveals the complete rejection of basic economics that underpins the opposition's completely discredited climate change policy.