Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

It is very good to see that some of you stand for something! We, of course, do not agree with them. We think there are one or two facts that kind of get in the road of this assessment, like: 10 interest rate increases in a row; inflation at a 16-year high, government spending increasing at 4½ per cent real; money squandered on things like $457 million in government advertising in the space of the 16 months; grants soaring from $450 million in 2002 to $4.5 billion in 2007; huge blowouts in defence spending; enormous increases in Public Service employment, particularly at the SES level; millions squandered on regional rorts; productivity growth down to zero; a current account deficit above six per cent; and so the list goes on. But some in the opposition discount these inconvenient facts and hold true to the belief that the former government was the best economic and financial manager that Australia has ever seen—like the true diehard and ultimate Howard supporter, the member for Warringah, who last night demanded that the Rudd government honour the former Liberal government’s promise to spend $9 million upgrading the Brookvale Oval, the home of the Sea Eagles. He finished his speech with these immortal lines:

We are all Australians. We all deserve a share of government largesse.

That tells you everything you need to know about the Howard government. But at least the member for Warringah stands for something; at least he has got a position. On the recent economic and financial management performance of governments, at least some in the opposition actually take a stand. Sadly, we cannot say the same about the Leader of the Opposition. No-one could ever accuse him of being a true believer about anything. When he is asked the big questions about economic and financial management, he refuses to answer. He pleads the fifth; he takes the fifth. Does he support Work Choices? He will not say. Does he believe that government spending needs to be cut? He will not answer the question. It was put to him at the Press Club the other day, and he would not answer. Does he believe there is a need to tackle the spending blowouts in defence? He could not possibly comment.

The moment of truth is coming for the Leader of the Opposition and it is coming quicker than he believes. In fact, it is coming this weekend. There is a matter of enormous significance, of enormous importance to many Australians, happening this weekend. The question he has to face up to is: which footy team does he barrack for? He has told the Australian people over the years that he barracks for two teams—the Swans and the Saints. He barracks for both—just as he is in favour of Work Choices when he is in the boardrooms in Sydney but is against Work Choices when he is out in regional Queensland; just like he opposed an apology to Indigenous people in December and supported it in February; just like he spent half his adult life in the Labor Party and half in the Liberal Party—

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