Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to this debate on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2013-2014,Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2013-2014 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2013-2014. It is always good to follow the member for Wright. Like me—and I see the member for Forde in the chamber as well—the member for Wright ran a business prior to coming to this place. We, along with the coalition, understand about fiscal responsibility and making sure that the bills are paid based on what is coming in the door as well as what is going out of the door, something the previous government failed to recognise in their six years. I note that these are the first appropriation bills of the Abbott government and I am encouraged by the tone that these bills set for the coalition government.

The b ills include measures in four specific areas—economic management, foreign affairs, im migration and border protection, and d efence . T he se bills take positive steps towards providing sound financial management with respect to the Reserve Bank of Australia, good organisation al management with the streamlining of the Public Service , strong border protection with a plan to stop the boats and a focus and priority on d efence.

This is a far cry from the priorities and policies of the former Labor g overnment, whose appropriation b ills were littered with profligate and wasteful spending.

We all remember the carbon tax kitchen, the study on ergonomic design s of desk chairs and the set- top box rip-offs under the previous government—not to mention the pink batts. Page after page of the budget papers were full of these wasteful items of expenditure which added up to the biggest deficits in Australia's history. The most frustrating part for the coalition and for the Australian people is that the Labor Party still just do not get it when it comes to budget and waste. They do not understand how wasteful spending is directly related to budget deficits.

I recall, during the recent debate on the Tax Bonus for Working Australians Repeal Bill 2013, the member for Fraser stating that he just could not understand why the government was going to the trouble of repealing legislation to save only $250,000. The member for Fraser said 'only $250,000'. It is this frame of mind, this mode of thinking from the Labor Party, that created the financial disaster of the last government. I am sure there are other members in this place who know that most of the people in their electorate would think that $250,000 is a damn lot of money and would love to have that sort of money fall into their letterbox. To the member for Fraser and to all members opposite I say that eliminating $250,000 of waste is a good start, and I can assure members opposite that it will be only the start of this government's effort in the massive task that lies ahead of restoring the budget and the financial position of this country.

With the serious financial position the country was left in just a few short months ago by Labor, it is difficult to even imagine that just a year or two ago Treasurer Swan was suggesting that there was going to be a surplus in the 2012-13 financial year. I remember being in the House on budget night on 8 May 2012. I remember the disbelief of members on our side of the House when the Treasurer claimed that he had delivered the surplus 'as promised', when there was nothing in his speech to indicate the structural repair to the budget necessary for a surplus. But the Treasurer's plan was not for a real surplus; it was a plan for a paper surplus, a one-off surplus before the election to parade before the voters. That was the Treasurer's plan. I cannot remember how many times he promised he was going to deliver a surplus but I wish I had a dollar for every time he promised it.

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