Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Just as the rifle is coming down the front bench, you will help me sight it, will you? Thank you very much. And keep asking questions on the Future Fund. That helps us sight that pretty well, too. When the honourable member for Lilley was interviewed by Fran Kelly on 8 March 2007, she said this:

... Treasurer Peter Costello made the point yesterday that under the current government real wages have increased 20 per cent in this country. He compares it to under Labor they went down 1.8 per cent ...

Answer:

... Look, there was wage restraint under a Labor government to make this economy internationally competitive ...

So there you have it. Under Labor declining wages was a good thing. It was a deliberate policy. That was their policy to make Australia internationally competitive. We had another idea about making Australia internationally competitive. How is this for an idea: balance the budget, repay $96 billion of debt, have an independent monetary policy, reform the waterfront, engage in industrial relations reform and set up a Future Fund? Then maybe the workers can get high wages and not have to suffer under real wage declines.

The recent tactic from the Leader of the Opposition has been to say his policy is coalition policy. He supports balanced budgets now, he supports paying off debt and he supports an independent monetary policy. Whatever the coalition is for, the Leader of the Opposition would now have you believe that he endorses it. But the first hurdle: can he stand up and can he protect the Future Fund?

Mr Speaker, he should not turn his back at this point and engage in conversation with the member for Lilley, as if he is not interested, because the Leader of the Opposition ought to get interested in some economic policy. I call on him to turn around and to listen to some economic policy. Ah, Mr Speaker, let us pretend to have a conversation about the Future Fund now! Then we will turn and pretend to have a conversation about education policy! The people of Australia need to know this: the Leader of the Opposition studiously turns his back in the parliament on a daily basis. Hooray! The Leader of the Opposition has just turned around to face the music. The people of Australia ought to know this: the Leader of the Opposition, if he wants to become Prime Minister, has got to face challenges front on and not with his back.

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