House debates
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Questions without Notice
Budget
2:47 pm
Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Treasurer. At this time of global economic uncertainty, why is it so important that the government’s budget measures are passed in full?
Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
It is very important to pass these budget measures in full, to provide a buffer against global turmoil, to ensure the Reserve Bank has room to move. What those opposite want to forget about is the 12 interest rate rises on the trot—10 of them under them. That is what has put Australian families under tremendous financial pressure. Their 10 interest rate rises in a row are slowing the Australian economy, and they will not admit to that. This is happening at a time of great global uncertainty, and the one thing this nation needs in these circumstances is a strong surplus—a strong surplus to give the Reserve Bank room to move so it can take pressure off interest rates to get those financial pressures off Australian families. And what are we getting from those opposite? They are going to vandalise the surplus at this stage to the tune of possibly $6 billion.
Now I have heard it all from the Leader of the Opposition. He had this to say on Sunday. He said he was not in the business of ‘writing blank cheques’ and he was not into ‘knee-jerk responses’. The farce over their response to all these budget measures has gone on for weeks but now we know where they stand. They stand with the alcohol industry against doing something against teenage binge drinking. They stand with the luxury car industry. They do not stand with this side of the House, which wants to put downward pressure on interest rates for working families. Now we find they are going to defend the indefensible: they are going to continue with a huge tax break for one particular oil company at the expense of the Australian people.
I do not really know anymore who takes the decisions over on their side of the House. You have got the Leader of the Opposition, one of the three stooges, who can’t do his job; you have got the member for Wentworth, who can’t get the job; and of course you have got the member for Higgins, who hasn’t got the courage to take the job.
Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Treasurer was asked how increasing the price of motor vehicles would reduce inflation. He has not answered the question. I would ask him to be relevant.
Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! There was absolutely no substance to the point of order because it referred to the previous question.
Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker—
Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for North Sydney will resume his seat. On the overall question of relevance of the response to the question that has been asked, the Treasurer is being relevant. Further, I am being given advice from people on my left about relevance by way of interjection. Can I say that it would improve the standard of question time if there were less baiting and sledging, which I believe ends up getting a response during an answer which does tend to go to the extremes of relevance.
Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, given that you want to engage in a debate on this now—
Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
No, I do not want to engage in a debate.
Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
You raised this, Mr Speaker.
Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I do—on relevance. The opposition are asking short questions—
Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
and are getting longwinded, irrelevant answers. The government are not even answering their own questions.
Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
That is not a point of order. The member for North Sydney will leave the chamber for one hour.
The member for North Sydney then left the chamber.
Without wishing to have a debate about the vexed question of relevance, I think those who have been here long enough would know that a fairly wide definition has traditionally been used. The Treasurer is relevant in his response. The Treasurer will continue. Less debate during his answer would help, but the Treasurer has been relevant.
Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Thank you, Mr Speaker. We now have a fourth position. The question was about inflation. It is a very serious question, because we are dealing with a serious inflationary problem in this country. It reached a 16-year high in October, November and December last year. Those opposite may want to deny that they had anything to do with it or that their policies had contributed to it. But we are dealing with it, which is what we did in our budget on 13 May, which was to build up a significant surplus, to restrain public demand and to stop their reckless spending in the interests of Australians who are carrying very, very high mortgage rates. The legacy of those opposite is 10 interest rate rises in a row and absolutely fantastic financial pressure on Australian families. They might want to pretend that the election did not happen last year on 24 November. They might like to pretend it did not occur at the end of last year. They might like everyone out there to believe that, suddenly, inflation just emerged on 25 November last year. They might like to pretend that it did not happen. Well, it did and we are dealing with it. One of the ways we are dealing with it is by building a significant surplus.
Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
That is right—we are. We have responsibilities to fulfil to the Australian people. The irresponsible actions of the opposition in the Senate will plunder that surplus, will limit the capacity of the government to deal with inflationary pressures and will limit the capacity of the Reserve Bank. That will be on the heads of all of those opposite if they continue with this sort of irresponsible behaviour. But it gets worse than that. They will not put up their hands and accept responsibility for inflation being at a 16-year high. They will not put up their hands and accept any responsibility for the capacity constraints in the Australian economy, which are feeding through into inflation. They now want to deny that there are international and global factors which are slowing the Australian economy and which are also putting upward pressure on rates domestically. They simply want to deny that.
The member for Higgins said last week that, if he were in office now, the international financial crisis would not have happened. He said that, if he were in office now, there would not be a crisis in our stock markets. That is how ridiculous the opposition have become—no credibility and no consistency. On this side of the House we will do the responsible thing, and the responsible thing was done on 13 May in our budget—producing a sizeable surplus, putting in place spending and planning for the long term. Their short-term politics are playing havoc with the national interest. They should get on our side in the Senate and support our surplus.