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

I withdraw. When the Leader of the Opposition was speaking in the party room last week—and I think he has made these remarks before—he said that he would always prefer to apologise after, rather than seek permission before, a policy announcement. That should send a chill down the spine of every business in this country. He would prefer not to seek permission before—not be upfront with the people of Australia and the business community, but take a decision and then somehow make it right by apologising later.

His arrogance in those statements was only exceeded by the statements from the shadow Treasurer. The shadow Treasurer, when he was asked about this ‘big new tax’, said it was a windfall gain for business. A big new tax becomes a windfall gain for business. We all know that Senator Joyce has also been out there putting his points of view, inventing new definitions of debt—‘net gross public private debt’. So what we have here is the ‘Three Stooges’ of the opposition frontbench. They have no credibility—no credibility with the business community and no credibility with the wider community—because they came into this House when this country was in its hour of need and they opposed the stimulus that saved our country. They opposed the stimulus that has created 180,000 jobs and now they propose to put a big tax on business which will push up prices for pensioners and families. The whole community will suffer. What they have demonstrated over the past few weeks is just how reckless and erratic they are and how incapable they are of managing the economy of this country.

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