Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

This is exactly what they have said. I will quote directly from them—and attribute the quote to them. They said:

Directors welcomed the establishment of three new funds for longer-term spending on health, education, and infrastructure, with contributions to come from the 2007/08 and 2008/09 surpluses.

They went on:

Saving some of the revenue from the commodity price boom in three new funds will take pressure off monetary policy in the near term and enable increased infrastructure investment over the medium term.

There you have the IMF acknowledging that Labor have put in place our surplus with a purpose.

But I am also asked about the importance of consistency in economic policy making for the Australian economy. Earlier in question time we had a question to the Treasurer from the shadow Treasurer. In her question the shadow Treasurer referred the Treasurer to a speech by the Assistant Treasurer dated 4 June and published on the Assistant Treasurer’s website. She then went on to refer to a speech given by the Treasurer in the House on 18 June 2008, thereby clearly giving the impression that there was no connection between the two. She indicated that the Treasurer’s speech was made in the House but the Assistant Treasurer’s speech was just available on the website. If the shadow Treasurer was being fair dinkum she would have stated—

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