Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are currently experiencing a time of global uncertainty. Much of this uncertainty has resulted from the instability in the US subprime market. Australia is well placed to tackle these challenges, but we are in no way impervious to them. That is why it is so important, so vital, that we have responsible economic management. That is why it is so important that the budget surplus not be put at risk. But that is exactly what the opposition is doing in its determination to block key budget measures in the Senate and with its reckless spending promises.

On this side of the House we are committed to responsible economic management. We are building investment funds to give us the capability to invest in the future of our economy: the Building Australia Fund, the Education Investment Fund and the health and hospital fund. In total the Rudd government have invested $76 billion in building our nation. This is a reflection of a government who are taking action today to deal with the long-term challenges of this nation—challenges in health, national infrastructure and education. We are meeting all of our election promises, trying to rebuild faith with the Australian people that when a government say they are going to do something they actually do it, and rebuilding a trust that was so badly eroded under the previous government.

But we have done all of that within a responsible economic framework, introducing saving measures in areas of wasteful government spending and directing revenue raised at serious public policy challenges. Every one of the measures in the budget is framed in that context. That is what is so disturbing about what the opposition is doing—blocking key measures in the budget, making a number of reckless spending promises that it knows it will never, ever deliver on, at the same time as trying to reclaim the mantle of economic management and talking the economy down. It is cherry-picking areas where it thinks it can grab a headline, raising expectations amongst vulnerable and financially stretched community members that it knows it will never have to deliver on and putting the economic prosperity of this country at risk. This economic prosperity was built—it may be news to those on the other side of the chamber—not from the Liberal Party’s hard work but from the hard work and determination of the Australian people.

In a 20-minute press conference yesterday, the new Leader of the Opposition spent $20 billion. This included continuing the policies of the previous Leader of the Opposition by blowing a $6 billion hole in the budget surplus through blocking key measures in the Senate. This is absurd from a man who had been party leader for no more than a few hours. This is economic irresponsibility at its worst, especially at a time when our nation is fighting inflationary pressures.

We inherited an inflation rate that was at a 16-year high from the previous government. This was from a government that increased government spending at over five per cent per annum in real terms. Responsible economic management requires restraint in good times as well as bad and, most importantly, it requires leadership. Leadership appears to be sadly lacking in the new Leader of the Opposition. The opposition in the Senate are continuing with their policy of blocking key budget measures. The Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Party are keen to stand up for cheap luxury cars. The Liberal Party is supportive of increasing taxes to middle-income Australia through its decision to block changes to the Medicare levy threshold, measures that would put, in some cases, some $1,000 in the pockets of many families. And of major concern is the fact that the Liberal Party is supporting cheap alcohol for teenagers.

On top of this, the new Leader of the Opposition is continuing the other ‘policy on the run’ decisions by the former Leader of the Opposition, including the empty pension proposal that forgets about 2.2 million pension recipients and seems to be trying to erase the 12 years in government where they did absolutely nothing to raise the base rate of pensions. There is all care and no responsibility from the opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition faced more than a test of the party-room numbers yesterday. It was a test of his economic management credentials. In raiding the budget surplus and putting our economic prosperity at risk, it was a test which he failed miserably.