Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The actions of the Liberal and National parties in the Senate and their actions in this House over the past week have effectively sabotaged the Australian economy. They have sent a signal that they are prepared to have higher unemployment, not lower unemployment. This is extremely serious. If all of the leading industry bodies in this country are supporting the government’s Nation Building and Jobs Plan, if the IMF is supporting the government’s Nation Building and Jobs Plan and if the Reserve Bank can cite our Nation Building and Jobs Plan as part of a coordinated strategy, why can’t the Liberal and National parties in the House of Representatives and in the Senate support this plan? Why can’t they support something that is clearly in the national interest? I will tell you why: because the Leader of the Opposition simply wants to score political points—he has put his pointscoring ahead of the national interest. That is what has been on display in the Senate this afternoon and in the House today.

The chief economist of the IMF had this to say in the last week:

Above all, adopt clear policies and act decisively … Delays in financial packages have cost a lot already. Further rounds of debate will stoke uncertainty and make things worse.

Well, that is what the Liberal and National parties have done in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. They have stoked uncertainty, and that in itself is damaging. That is why we say that there is no economic responsibility on that side of the House. They have become economic wreckers. (Time expired)

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