Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I should indicate that the government will give the Leader of the Opposition leave to table the petition that he forgot about in his question. All of us would like to pay defence personnel more. We really, really would. But it is impossible to do with a $50 billion deficit what was possible with a $20 billion surplus. I give this commitment: no public sector worker will be paid at a higher rate of increase than our defence forces. Our defence forces will be given the respect that they deserve from this government by being paid at the very top of what is possible at these times. But our defence forces need to know why we are in this predicament. We are in this predicament because members opposite gave us debt and deficit, stretching out as far as the eye can see. That is why it is not possible to pay defence force personnel as much as we would like, because members opposite left us with debt and deficit stretching out as far as the eye can see. Because Defence Force personnel are smart people, because they understand that in order to have a strong defence you have got to have a strong economy, I am confident that they will appreciate exactly what this government is doing.

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