Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thirty-three billion dollars over the forward estimates. And what is it going to do? It is actually going to penalise this country. To try to find a reason for why they are doing it, they are actually having this whole advertising campaign—$36 billion—which is supposedly about the carbon tax but which does not mention a carbon tax. It is all about the supposed good news, but I think people in Australia are not that stupid and they obviously will not be conned by it.

I move on to the Murray-Darling. I represent all of the Murray River in South Australia. It is a huge issue—an icon issue—in South Australia. But unfortunately Labor has deferred $940 million promised for infrastructure spending to bring community-friendly environmental benefits to the Murray-Darling Basin off into the future. We are also moving $40 million worth of water buybacks into this financial year. Again, this is a con when it comes to the actual spending on the budget. That is despite the Windsor review saying that we should not just go into buybacks because of the Swiss cheese effect.

So, all in all, this budget is the most disappointing and dishonest budget. I have to say that; that is not just rhetoric. It is a dishonest budget; it is a budget that is going to be very sad for all members of parliament, because they know that it does not give us a long-term future, something to plan on and things like defence. What a shocker! I leave it there. I think it is just a bad budget and that we should recognise it for what it is.

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