Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have to confess that as I was listening to that contribution from the member for Kooyong, who I know does care about his electorate and does his very best in this place, I was conjuring a visual image of a balloon that was getting bigger and bigger and filling with more and more hot air. I just want to puncture the bubble and pop that balloon and get some facts on the record for a change.

The reality is that the criticisms offered by others, the day-in day-out weekly dirge, the negativity, the ongoing decrying of Australia's economy and, indeed, of the challenges that are risen to every day by the Australian people, are just plain wrong. No matter how many times you tell the wrong thing over and over, it will never become the truth. That is a strategy upon which they are relying.

Let us just look to some people who are outside this place, who are making judgements and who have some credibility in terms of making judgements about the Australian economy. Let us look at the ANZ. Their assessment is that:

… substantial tightening of fiscal policy that would have been required to return the budget to surplus any earlier than outlined tonight would be too damaging.

They think we are doing a good job. Westpac said:

The Commonwealth Government's net debt position remains extremely manageable.

The CBA said:

The Australian economy is not one that needs aggressive fiscal consolidation.

And S&P said:

We continue to consider the Australian government's fiscal position to be a key rating strength ...

These third-party endorsements by people who stand outside this place—the ANZ, Westpac, CBA and S&P—are from very valuable commentators who are actually managing money, not just coming in here and playing with words and filling the air with noise and sound and very little truth—and certainly not the sort of truth that is going to inspire any Australian business to pick itself up and push on forward, which is the great strength of Australian businesses that I know from my own family experience and also from working with businesses in my economy.

I want to speak briefly to the budget that was delivered last night in Queensland, because I think that it is a bit of an interesting point of reflection right now. The Queensland Treasurer, Tim Nicholls, has just handed down his state's budget and he said that in the face of falling revenues he had constructed his budget in a particular way. He went on to say that Australia as a whole is facing the same issue. This is something that we have been trying to tell those opposite for years. Treasurer Nicholls acknowledged that out there, there has been a battered world economy. It is a sad thing for the member for North Sydney that Treasurer Nicholls might be more qualified to be the Commonwealth Treasurer than him, because at least he is acknowledging the reality that is out there in the real world. Treasurer Nicholls recognises that across this great nation government revenues are down. The member for North Sydney cannot. Even Treasurer Nicholls can see that returning to surplus too early is going to hurt Queenslanders, but the member for North Sydney cannot.

Or can he?

Something seems to have happened to him between 28 January and 18 April. This is what the member for North Sydney had to say on AMon 28 January this year:

Our commitment is emphatic. Based on the numbers published today, we will deliver a surplus in our first year and every year after that.

'There will be a surplus under the government I lead.' I am pretty sure that is what he is saying. But things are changing. In his speech on 18 April he said:

We are not going to go down the path of austerity simply to bring the budget back to surplus because it would end up being a temporary surplus …

This is incredible back-pedalling from a man who thinks he is fit to be the Treasurer of this country.

But there are similarities between the Treasurer of Queensland and the opposition's shadow Treasurer, the member for North Sydney. They share a vision of the world, a very different vision from the one we on this side have. Both of these Liberals—a Treasurer and a potential Treasurer—see a path back to surplus paved with job cuts. They see a path ahead where workers' rights are fair game for stripping back. Both see a path ahead where the future of our kids is just a casualty—thrown aside. Unlike our side, Treasurer Nicholls and the member for North Sydney see investment in education as money ill spent. They cannot understand the concept of investment—investment for the enhancement of this country, investment for the enhancement of our people and investment for the enhancement of our economy.

That observation brings us back to the crux of today's MPI—the appropriate management of the economy. This is not just a conversation about numbers; it is about appropriateness. We as a Labor government have managed the Australian economy through terrible economic circumstances since 2008. The Labor Party is the only party you can trust to ensure that sensible and appropriate action is taken to deal with challenges of magnitude, challenges such as the GFC. We responded to that challenge and we kept Australia working. On this side of parliament, we know what we have to do to keep Australia working.

I did not hear anything about that from the member for Kooyong. I did not hear anything about jobs, I did not hear anything about education, I did not hear anything about health, I did not hear anything about disability and I did not hear anything about investment. All I heard was fear, alarm and a disgraceful talking down of the Australian economy.

We do not believe it is appropriate to cut wages. We do not believe it is appropriate to take money out of education. It is not appropriate to cut superannuation. But this is what the Liberal Party plan to do if they get onto the Treasury benches. That is how they think they are going to strengthen the economy. That will not strengthen the economy; that will rip the guts out of the economy.

Labor has appropriately managed this economy. Through that appropriate management, we have kept Australia working. No amount of screaming, interjection or talking the place down can undo the fact that we have seen 14 per cent growth in the economy and the addition of almost a million jobs—960,000 jobs. I know it was cause for some sorrow amongst those on the other side to get the most recent data of 0.6 per cent growth in our economy this quarter and 2.5 per cent over the last year. The fact is that, unlike the very sad story those opposite want to tell every day—talking down the Australian economy and taking away hope—we have seen this economy grow at three times the OECD average. That is a fact.

We have given tax cuts to millions of Australian workers, leaving more money in their pockets, because we believe they deserve it. We are increasing Australia's retirement savings through an increase in super from nine per cent to 12 per cent, something those opposite are dedicated to blocking. If those opposite are allowed to implement their approach to managing the economy, an average 30-year-old working in my electorate will, upon reaching retirement, be $127,000 less well off. That is the kind of management of the economy that people in Robertson do not need and that people across the entire country do not need.

We made sure that we kept Australia working. We doubled investment in school education. We have upgraded facilities at every school and we have provided more information for parents than ever before. We are delivering skills. We have 190,000 extra students studying in this country. We have been able to do this by managing the economy and putting investment into things that will grow our wealth, that will grow the capacity of the community, that will grow the talents and capacities of our individuals whether they be in the field of business, music, arts or literature—any field of endeavour.

These things are possible only because we have appropriately managed the Australian economy. This country has not had a recession for 21 years, but I can tell you that 21 years ago when there was a recession, if you were an apprentice and you lost your job you lost your apprenticeship and it was eight years before you got it back. When we talk about the economy people's eyes glaze over and it is all about numbers, but the fact is that the economy is the thing that enables us to govern in a particular way. Managing it is a revelation of our values. We have invested in Australian people—we have made sure apprentices have kept jobs—and we will continue to do that. (Time expired)

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