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

I thank the member from Canberra for that very important question, because we on this side of the House understand the importance of policies that promote growth and support jobs. The dignity of work and the opportunities that come from earning a decent living are absolutely fundamental to what we on this side of the House believe. We are not called the Australian Labor Party for nothing, because we believe in the dignity of work and we believe in the importance of supporting jobs, and that is why we acted so decisively during the global financial crisis and the global recession. And that is why we are proud of the fact that unemployment is at 5.2 per cent and that is why we are so engaged in working with those sectors of the economy that are impacted by a higher dollar, because we understand the importance of supporting employment and making sure that we have got modern industry which is both productive and competitive because we understand the importance of jobs to the security and wellbeing of our population. That is why we are so committed to delivering a surplus in 2012-13. We will deliver a surplus in 2012-13 because that is the appropriate thing to do when you have got an economy growing at trend. But that is not a belief which is shared by those opposite. We have got the three stooges of their economic team—

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