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

people who I know are respected by the Leader of the Opposition. This just shows how opportunistic he is prepared to be, because we have taken advice from people who, I would say, are not on our side of politics when this was set up. We have taken plenty of advice, and we have put in place all the safeguards for this enterprise that you would expect with modern corporate governance. They were outlined at length in the House last night, and in the summing up of the debate I went through them in great detail, because this is only here for viable commercial property holders.

What the opposition are seeking to deny is the fact that foreign banks, if they withdraw, cannot be replaced by domestic funding. They must be the only people in the country who do not believe that. First of all, they obviously do not accept that there is a problem internationally with toxic assets in the banking system. They do not accept the fact that international banks that have been nationalised in their home country, whether it is Britain, France or Germany, are now being told to come home by their new owners. They do not appreciate any of these facts; they just seek to ignore them all because of their blind politics when it comes to trying to score a point against the Australian Labor Party.

Of course, the member for North Sydney seeks to say that the Vision tower in Brisbane would automatically receive funding. It will go through that process like every other project, and I have no idea whether it will receive funding, but I tell you one thing: we will try. We will give them access to a financial instrument if they pass the test. Do you know what that means? Australian jobs. That would be a terrible thing—supporting Australian employment! Your political approach in this matter has unravelled in this House today. Your naked political opportunism and your bitterness have been on show for all of the Australian people, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

See this speech in context