Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2016-2017 and related bills, but also for the opportunity to follow an outstanding new colleague, the member for Herbert, one of a number of terrific first speeches in this place today on our side—the members for Wills, Fremantle, Lindsay and Cowan, as well as the member for Herbert. It is one of the great days in this parliament when you get to hear about people's backgrounds and the motivations that brought them here. It applies to both sides of the House. So, to the member for Herbert and all the colleagues on both sides, congratulations on such terrific speeches.

We are dealing now with the appropriation bills. These bills are required to ensure the funding of the ordinary functions of government, but they go to broader issues in our economy and especially in relation to the government's mismanagement of the budget and also, to an extent, to the approach that both sides are taking to the current omnibus bills.

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