Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have not spoken in an MPI for a while and I note with interest that I haven't really missed much! It is quite ironic that the topic, as always when I come to these MPIs, is that the Treasurer does not have an economic plan—this on the day that we agree and pass ChAFTA in this house. This government has had a strong record over its first two years through ChAFTA today and through the Japanese and Korean free trade agreements.

I admire the member for Fraser and the wonderful oration he gave in his policy announcement this morning. Yes, it is about the future, but it is also about today. It is also understanding the structural budget deficit challenges that we actually face. The thing about ChAFTA that is ironic is that it is also about learning that at times that the problems are big enough you need bipartisan support for some things that are in the national interest.

We do have a structural budget deficit. I have said this and will say it till I am blue in the face. The Intergenerational reportbelled the cat. In the next 40 years we will grow in the age bracket of 65-plus at three times the rate that we will grow in the age bracket of 0-64. You had the Leader of the Opposition earlier in the week stand up and ask why we would have the audacity to increase the retirement age, though the opposition when in government had done exactly the same. It is because we are living longer and larger portions of our life are spent in retirement, not earning or paying tax.

But you can do two things: you can bury your head in the sand and hope that the future is going to save you or you can confront the problem today. I disagree completely with the member for Rankin but I do congratulate him on his promotion. The Minister for Social Services today belled the cat again. He stood at the dispatch box and explained that we are prepared to take the tough decisions we need to but balance with common sense. He explained that at stage in the six years of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government the opposition when in government were confronted with the same hard decisions. At times like that, we, like the opposition have today with ChAFTA, worked wit them to make tough calls.

I do not know when the light is going to switch on with the opposition. There are people over there that I have a lot of time for and who are quite switched-on people. At some stage they are going to have to tell us what they are going to do differently and how they are going to pay for it. We are getting close—within 12 months—to the next election. It is fine in opposition to spend two years pooh-poohing everything that the government wants to do and opposing for the sake of opposing, but at some stage they have to offer solutions beyond five-minute orations from the member for Fraser.

They have so far as it sits today a $62 billion black hole. They want to spend—though we cannot actually get them to answer whether they do or not—$80 billion more than us on health and education in the next 10 years. They will not answer that question; they just want to criticise the fact that we will not spend $80 billion more like they want to but then will not say whether they will or will not. The shadow foreign minister wants to spend $16 billion more than we are in our forward estimates in foreign aid over the next 10 years; but, so far, over the same 10-year period they have proposed two revenue measures. One is a multinational tax package which they will not release the PBO budgeting on that will raise $9 billion over the 10 years. The other is a superannuation tax which moves the goalposts on people who have invested in their retirement in good faith under the rules of the day. That is going to raise $14 billion.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

Jim, the numbers do not add up. You have got $23 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. There is $62 billion in a black hole. You have got $80 billion that you will or will not—you may answer the question at some stage in the next 12 months—spend. And there is $16 billion. That 62 is over the forward estimates. It was 57 but jumped to 62 in the last week. Before estimates the rest are for 10. So when you take the black hole for the forward estimates and spin the number out, it comes to somewhere in the order of $150 billion to $200 billion that you will not tell us how you are going to pay for. This is the problem we have. The reality will bite at some stage, and the people of Australia will work it out and value a government that is prepared to take the tough decisions that we need.

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