Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. My answer to that direct question is that it is more of the fear that we have seen from the opposition. Let us go through the claims they have made to date. The first claim was that the coal industry would close down—proven to be absolute nonsense. Then the Leader of the Opposition was out saying Whyalla would be wiped off the map—absolute nonsense. Then he was out claiming that the government's statements that there would be benefits to nine out of 10 households was untrue. The only untruth in that was coming out of the mouth of the Leader of the Opposition when he tried to declare that those benefits would not be going through to pensioners and to working families. And now the Leader of the Opposition, against that track record of always getting it wrong, of always preferring fear over facts, is going back to the same well and inviting people to believe fear over facts again. The truth is that this is a tough time for the aluminium industry, as has been made clear by Alcoa. The pressures on them include the pressures of the Australian dollar. That is why we are working to support jobs today and will continue doing it tomorrow. The opposition, of course, have got absolutely no plans for jobs. (Time expired)

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