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

What we saw in the embarrassment on Laurie Oakes’s program is that there is no alternative policy. None of them—not one of the entire frontbench—has an alternative policy. All they have is a dishonest scare campaign about deficit and debt. It is about time that they came clean and admitted that if they were in government they would have to borrow as much as the government has had to borrow to support employment in the Australian economy. But they are so opportunistic. They are so concerned with their own political futures that they are not concerned with the national interest. We published for everybody to see in our budget all of our figures; all of our estimates. Because they are inconvenient for their fake political position, they cannot wear them.

On this side of the House, we are proud of the budget that we brought down. We are proud of the role that it is playing in supporting employment. There are 200,000 more Australians in employment as a consequence of our budget. That is 200,000-plus people in employment who would not have been in employment if it had not been for our budget. That is their embarrassment; that is what they cannot admit to. That is why their dishonest campaign is there for everybody to see.

See this speech in context