Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

You know things are going badly in question time when the 10th question from those opposite is called the ‘rally the troops’ question. That is what this one has been all about. The $390 billion is a figure which has been in the public debate from Saul Eslake for a long time. Those opposite have never bothered to refute it, I notice. Can I just say to the Leader of the Opposition: if you look at the obscenity of the amount that those opposite spent in the public advertising campaign on Work Choices, those opposite should hang their heads in shame. Go beyond Work Choices, that absolute orgy of public advertising that those opposite engaged in, week after week, month after month, year after year. You could not turn the telly on without those opposite describing their virtues to the Australian public, courtesy of the public taxpayer. I do not stand opposed to public advertising when you are giving the public critical information or when you are asking for the public to do something, but the Work Choices extravaganza is a classic example of absolute and unacceptable waste—and that is before we go on to the rainmaker. How much was it that the rainmaker got?

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