Chris Trevor (Flynn, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline for the House why it is so important that confidence in the regulators is not undermined in these uncertain global times?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. In uncertain global times, confidence in key economic institutions, in key financial institutions and in key regulators is absolutely paramount. That is particularly the case given that we are in the midst of the worst financial market crisis since the Great Depression. Because of that it is indeed surprising, I think, that the opposition have over the past 48 hours gone out of their way to slur some of our finest public servants and to trash some of our finest economic institutions. Just think about that for a moment. Given what is going on around the world, why would the opposition choose this time to attack the head of the Treasury, an independent Public Service department—a man who has worked for both sides of politics and has been with that department all his working life? Why would they do that in the middle of a global financial crisis?

The Leader of the Opposition was given the opportunity to come into the House and apologise for that attack, but he simply was not man enough. What is worse is that it was because the Secretary of the Treasury had the temerity to say that regulators supported the government guarantee on deposits that he had to be trashed. So what happened after that? What happened was that Senator Abetz, a senior member of the opposition frontbench in the Senate, attacked the honesty of the Treasury secretary in the middle of a global financial crisis. He certainly did not apologise. And what has happened today? What happened today was something far worse. They sent out the member for Canning to attack the Reserve Bank governor personally. That is what they did—to accuse the Reserve Bank governor of political bias because he put up interest rates prior to the last election.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It is not relevant for the minister, after an apology has been tabled, to dredge up the same issue again.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning has other avenues of recourse in the chamber. But I do note that this is an occurrence that has occurred to other members, especially when they are members of the opposition, where despite actions being taken by them, or corrections being made, the comments have continued. I just make that notation. I simply say to the member for Canning: he has other courses of action in the chamber to address the problem that he perceives he has. The Treasurer has the call.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning not only attacked the Reserve Bank governor for political bias, he then accused him of creating chaos in the Australian economy. That is what he did. I am pleased he has had the sense to come into the House and to apologise. But that is not enough. What is required is a complete repudiation of his statements by the Leader of the Opposition. That is what is required. And what is required is an apology from the Leader of the Opposition for the slurs that have been cast on the Treasury secretary and for his personal attack on the Treasury secretary. That is what is required.

The Leader of the Opposition said that this financial crisis had just all been hyped up: ‘It was not all that serious. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about its impact on the stock market, don’t worry about its impact on our financial institutions.’ So I guess he would not be worried about the independence of our regulators or the independence of our Reserve Bank. We on this side of the House strongly support the regulators and we strongly support our impartial public servants, and both sides of the House should be doing this at a time of global financial crisis.