Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am asked to give an example. What about the 'roads to nowhere' program? What about the 'networking the nation' program? What happened to the proceeds from the first tranche of the sale of Telstra, T1? We were supposed to be putting that into a fund to network the nation. They have asked for an example of where their failed economic policies have left us with a burden. What about the nine failed broadband plans? Not only did they squander the money they gained from the first three tranches of the sale of Telstra, but in their entire time in office they have not come up with a plan to connect broadband services to the regions throughout Australia where they are greatly needed. They left us with a structural deficit and they left us with infrastructure in a dire state of disrepair. Infrastructure Australia estimates that there was a $46 billion deficit, which we have set about fixing up. They left us with a tax-to-GDP ratio at record levels, yet they like to talk about themselves as a low-taxing government. This will be the first coalition government in living memory that is going into the next election on a promise to increase company taxes, increase personal taxes and decrease pensions. We on this side are interested in managing the economy in the interests of working people. With those on the other side you could not use the words 'managing the economy' when it comes to their propositions.

I want to talk about unemployment, because we have done our level best to ensure we manage spending. We have had the fastest fiscal consolidation in the history of this country as we are living up to our promise to return the budget to surplus, and that requires some tough decisions. But what we are not going to do is take the meataxe to the Public Service, as is being done by the Queensland and New South Wales state Liberal governments. Those on the other side of the chamber are cheering as their mates in Queensland are slashing 14,000 jobs from the Queensland economy, a measure that on its own could have the impact of driving the state into recession. The impact of withdrawing that number of jobs and salaries from regional Queensland will be absolutely devastating, and it is happening in New South Wales as well.

The Commonwealth government has a policy of increasing the size of the education pie. The government is trying to increase the funding that goes into the education bucket but we see the Liberal Premier of New South Wales, with the biggest chisel and hammer he can get his hands on, putting a dirty big $1.7 billion hole in the bottom of that education bucket. So, their claims to sound financial management do not withstand scrutiny, and they need to be exposed at every turn.

That bull in a china shop, the member for North Sydney, stands here and says that we have to fix up the problems, when it is this side of the House that has fixed up the neglect, waste and mismanagement of those opposite, and we will continue to do it. This legislation is just another piece of the legislation that is a part of that package. We are reforming the banking system and the financial system and managing our economy in the interests of ordinary working people. (Time expired)

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