Joe Hockey North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer
3:07 pm
My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer confirm that John Grant did not receive the same financial scrutiny as other car dealers did who obtained government help? Isn’t it the case that just one car dealer out of 240 got a personal phone call from the Treasurer, had details on his case faxed to the Treasurer’s home and avoided the financial scrutiny because he was a mate of the Prime Minister?
Wayne Swan Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer
I stand behind all of my previous statements to this House 100 per cent. I stand by all of those statements. What is going on here is a massive smear campaign against the Prime Minister and myself and there is a continuance of that in the House today. You know the Leader of the Opposition is going bad when the member for North Sydney cuts him loose. And of course that is what he did on Lateline last night. He was asked a question by Tony Jones—
Joe Hockey North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer
Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order going to relevance. I want him to answer just one question—one question!
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Order! The member for North Sydney will resume his seat. The Treasurer will relate his material to the question.
Wayne Swan Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer
The Leader of the Opposition is just swinging in the breeze. This is what the shadow Treasurer said on Lateline last night:
You know what, Tony? I’m part of a team. I mean, you don’t always agree with individual decisions that are made by individual players in the team …
Distancing himself from the Leader of the Opposition—swinging in the breeze!
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Order! The member for North Sydney will resume his seat. The Treasurer must relate his material to the question and respond to the question.
Wayne Swan Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer
The reason the Leader of the Opposition is swinging in the breeze, and the reason the shadow Treasurer will be swinging with him—
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Opposition Members:
Opposition members interjecting—
Wayne Swan Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer
The reason they are swinging in the breeze is that they have a lot of questions to answer about their relationship with the Treasury official and how much pressure they put him under.