Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the government supporting economic growth to benefit all Australians?

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

I thank the member for Deakin for his question. This side of the House does understand the challenges that we face in this country from what is going on in the global economy. We have acted in the face of global uncertainty to get the big economic calls right. As a consequence, we have supported growth and jobs and we are putting in place all of the tough measures that are required to ensure that continues, including bringing our budget back to surplus. Indeed, today we introduced the mid-year budget review bills into the House to achieve that purpose. We on this side of the House are putting in place the important reforms to secure future prosperity; for example, investment in skills and infrastructure and investment in the NBN, which the Prime Minister was talking about today. These are opposed by those opposite. We are introducing a carbon price because we understand that no first-class First World economy can continue to be like that unless they are substantially powered by clean energy. That is, once again, opposed by those opposite. We are spreading the benefits of the mining boom and, in particular, giving some tax relief to small business and other corporates because we understand the pressures in the economy. Most importantly, we are bringing our budget back to surplus because we expect growth at trend.

Today, and in the past week, I think we have seen the worst we could possibly see from the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow Treasurer and the shadow finance spokesman. They are the 'Three Stooges' of opposition economic policy. Today we have had the classic—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order going to relevance. Mr Speaker, I would ask you to draw the Treasurer back to the question and stop the 'slag and bag', which I had hoped would end under your Speakership.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer is being directly relevant to the question; however, it would assist the chamber if he withdrew the inappropriate references he made to a number of opposition colleagues.

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

Certainly, Mr Speaker. Bringing the budget back to surplus is absolutely important.

Opposition members: Withdraw!

I do withdraw. Bringing the budget back to surplus is critical. We have a commitment to bringing the budget back to surplus. But the opposition leader today walked away from that idea and scrapped his commitment to returning to surplus. We had the opposition finance spokesman do the same a couple of days ago.

What is more extraordinary is that we have found out why. Why are they walking away from that commitment to surplus? They are doing it because the shadow Treasurer said there is a $70 billion crater in their budget bottom line. It is that big. We have had some progress from the shadow Treasurer on this today. He has been running around the country insisting he never said it was $70 billion, despite the fact that it was there on Sunrise. It is there for everybody to see, but he has been running around the country saying that he never said it. Today on radio, this is what he said: 'Okay, I shouldn't have said it.' The extraordinary thing about that is he does not know that that is not the problem. The problem is: how did they get to $70 billion in the first place? How many commitments have they made that cannot be funded? The truth is that their numbers do not— (Time expired.)