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

When confronted with questions about debt and deficit, the Leader of the Opposition’s said, and we remember his immortal phrase: ‘It’s not a question of a number.’ But what those opposite know, and he knows himself, is as follows. Firstly, Australia has the lowest net debt of all the major advanced economies; secondly, our AAA credit rating was reaffirmed by the ratings agencies after the budget; and, thirdly, the Leader of the Opposition and his Treasury spokesman have confirmed that their policy on debt and deficit would be virtually the same as the government’s. Therefore, what have they done, given that this undermines every element of logic in their position? They say, ‘Let’s nonetheless run a dishonest, negative scare campaign with one objective—to talk the economy down.

This government is embarked upon a strategy to build the Australian economy up. Those opposite are embarked upon a political strategy to talk the Australian economy down. As I said to the Leader of the Opposition yesterday, the Australian nation, at a time of external challenge to our economic future and to jobs, expect better of their leaders than engaging in a deliberate campaign to talk the economy down and to negatively affect consumer sentiment and business sentiment, which is precisely his political objective because he believes that is the best way to secure his own tenuous hold on the leadership of his party in the face of a challenge from the member for Higgins.

See this speech in context