Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science) Share this | Hansard source

When we talk about the importance of economic policy, we do not do so because it is an innately interesting thing to do; we talk about it because getting the fundamentals right with the economy is about people. It is about providing the right framework for businesses to grow to employ people, for start-ups to occur and for industry to develop. It is about raising the standard of living and the prospects for the people for whom we govern and, in our nation of Australia, providing the best possible framework so that people can pursue their dreams, achieve a better standard of living and an easier way of life and have greater freedoms than their forebears had. So, when we read newspaper reports today that the government is planning to attack a very important part of the former Howard government's economic policy—planning for the future, making provision for the future—when we read that it is planning to raid the Future Fund to artificially prop up a return to surplus in the 2012-13 budget after years in the deficit wilderness, that is great cause for concern.

An Australian citizen usually has to establish a watertight case for economic hardship before authorities will even entertain allowing them to make a withdrawal from their super fund, but this government plans to use the Future Fund as its personal ATM to avoid unwanted scrutiny for failing to achieve yet another promise, the promise of future budget targets. Senator Wong, of course, denies all of this, yet the department for which she is responsible confirmed it with their answer to a question taken on notice. The fact is that the Treasurer and the Prime Minister cannot risk being exposed, yet again, for making yet another lie. Their personal egos and—

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