Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I ask the Treasurer to outline the state of the budget inherited by the new government, and to inform the House about any impediments to fixing the budget and building a stronger economy.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Casey. He was around when the coalition last took government; he was working in Peter Costello's office. And he will well remember the Beazley black hole—the $10 million Beazley black hole. Well, now we have a Bowen black hole that is far larger than the Beazley black hole, and it continues to grow. The Labor Party has not only bequeathed us a budget with deficits as far as the eye could see—and when we release MYEFO in the next few days, you will see just how bad the books have been under Labor—but it goes beyond that: the Labor Party is so determined to wreak havoc on the Australian budget—from opposition—that they are opposing not only the savings that we took to the last election but also the savings that they took to the last election. Hang on, they not only want us to keep our promises, but they want us to break their promises. That is exactly what Labor wants. Not only are they saying, 'Well, we are not going to allow you to reduce the debt by $13 billion, by getting rid of the mining tax'—no, no—and, 'Not only are we going to prevent you reducing the debt by $7 to $8 billion, by getting rid of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation'. Oh no: they want to prevent us from reducing the debt because they want to go against their own election savings. They announced the savings to fund the Gonski education reforms. Let's get this right: Labor wants us to keep their policies when it comes to expenditure but they do not want us to keep their policies when it comes to the savings to pay for that expenditure. That is pathetic. It is genuinely pathetic. You know, in opposition, you actually have to have economic integrity—and the Labor Party has none. It had none in government. It has none in opposition.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I see a chortling member for Lilley over there—what a cracker! I want the member for Lilley to stay in this parliament as long as possible. That is what I want. Don't go away, Wayne! We know he is shopping his CV around every headhunter around the Southern Hemisphere but I say to the member for Lilley: don't go away—because the member for Lilley is going to be a constant reminder of the hypocrisy of Labor. He stood at this very dispatch box, beat his chest and said, 'It is outrageous, isn't it?—it is outrageous that we want to try and run a reasonable budget and the opposition over there is stopping us'. I would say to the member for Lilley: whisper in the ear of the Leader of the Opposition and explain to him that economic credibility comes from doing the hard yards.