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

So the member for North Sydney is out there delivering with crystal-clear clarity for the first time the position of the opposition on their debt and deficit strategy; that is, the government’s minus $25 billion. That is at 0800. At 0816 the regimental field commander himself takes position with the artillery barrage to come and the artillery barrage commences with his time on Sky Television, so Sky actually does an interview with the regimental field commander over there and he is asked the following question about debt and deficit. The Leader of the Opposition says:

If we were in government today revenues would be higher.

That is an interesting proposition: you get your magic wand out and you say, ‘We’re going to create more tax.’ It is just by waving the magic wand. Let us leave that one to one side for the moment.

Revenues would be higher as a product of a direct administrative—

‘decree’, I presume.

spending would be lower, therefore debt would be much lower and the deficit would be much lower. Now the reality is—

and here the journalist, David Speers, asks:

But you can’t say what figure?

Then the Leader of the Opposition says:

Well, no. You can’t because you, because you, I mean you, you could sit down, you could work out a model. But as we see with all of these financial models, you know, each assumption becomes fairly subjective.

So that was at 0816. At 0800 this morning the whistle has gone, the shrapnel is flying and the shadow Treasurer says government debt and deficit minus $25 billion. Sixteen minutes it took for the Leader of the Opposition to say, ‘I haven’t got a clue. I refuse to name a number.’ Well, there we have the regimental field commander and the regimental sergeant-major out there in full flight against the government, saying—

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