Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, with 168 committees and reviews coming up with spending promises attached—none of them associated with the global financial crisis—isn’t it the case that you have 168 reasons to go into deficit, all of them part of a political strategy and not an economic plan?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know the member for Hinkler’s heart was not in that question, because I know him to be a decent man who actually deals with the facts. I could actually hear the wince in his voice as he was required by the party whip to ask it! The great thing about our friend the member for Hinkler is that he is not a bad bloke; you can actually hear when he is uncomfortable with the question. To go to the facts of it, from the most recent set of government annual reports of 2005-06, the total number of committees launched by the previous, Howard government is 493, from memory. My response to those opposite would be these words: physician, heal thyself.