Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise also to speak on this thesis of Dr Leigh's, and quite a thesis it is. I just hope that the one that got him his doctorate had a little more substance than this one. He talks about the key issue being whether we want the economic discussion to be about fact or fiction. My view of this thesis of emotion is that really it is Dr Leigh's motion of no confidence in the Treasurer. It is saying that the Treasurer's record cannot stand on its own; therefore we need all members of the Labor Party to stand up and hail the Treasurer for the wonderful job that he has done, whereas they all know and see it in question time everyday that this Treasurer has no credibility whatsoever. He can take credit for nothing because he has done nothing of substance as Treasurer to in any way improve the productivity of this nation.

This no confidence motion in the Treasurer, as set out in this thesis by Dr Leigh, has no substance to it. Let us look at what is fact. Let us look at the fact that the Labor Party will not call the carbon tax for what it is: a tax. It always says 'carbon price'. Yet the Prime Minister, under duress, admitted that it is a carbon tax. So now they must not dare mention carbon tax in anything that goes out; it has to be carbon price. Let us get some facts. Let the Labor government tomorrow in the chamber come out and use the words 'carbon tax'—call it for what it is. Let us see some facts.

Let us also see them detail the real impact that it is going to have on the Australian community. I do not think that Dr Leigh or the others we have heard from today will do that. The memo has gone out to the Labor Party: 'You cannot use the term "carbon tax", even though the Prime Minister admitted that that is what it is. You have to use carbon price.' Not only do they have to use carbon price; they then use bribes to try to overcome the detrimental impact that it is going to have on the Australian people. They will use those bribes and market them under this '#cashforyou'. I must commend the member for Mayo for the wonderful press release that he put out last week on this '#cashforyou', where he demonstrated magnificently what it is all about: cash being taken from future generations of Australians to bribe the current generation of Australians to try to forget about the impact that this carbon tax will have on them. He referred to it as being very similar to an African Ponzi scheme, with the emails we all get trying to rip off the Australian public. It was extremely apt and hit the nail on the head when it comes to fact versus fiction with this government.

We also have other examples. Let us look at the budget surplus—the budget surplus which the Treasurer has said that he will deliver. Why then, on the nation's credit card, did he sneak through a rise from $250 billion to $300 billion? And why, when we sought to make this clear in the budget papers, would he have nothing of it? We wanted to get the fact in that, even though he was budgeting for a surplus, he wanted a $50 billion extension on the nation's credit card. Would he allow that fact to be revealed in the budget papers clearly? No, he would not.

Let us look at cost of living. I do not see any mention of cost of living in Dr Leigh's motion before us. Since this government came to power, electricity costs have increased by 65.7 per cent; water and sewage, 59.1 per cent; utilities, 58 per cent; gas, 38.7 per cent; insurance, 33.4 per cent; education, 31.1 per cent; medical and hospital services, 28. 8 per cent; and rents, 25. 8 per cent. The list goes on and on, and I have not even got to child care. The government has done nothing to address these cost-of-living issues and it is about to make it worse when it introduces the carbon tax on 1 July.

We on this side are happy to talk about facts until we get to the next election and we can get rid of this incompetent Labor government.

Debate adjourned.

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