Bill Shorten Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
2:38 pm
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to reports today that the Prime Minister is 'scraping off the barnacles'. Which barnacle will the Prime Minister scrape off today—his disaster of $100,000 university degrees or his gold-plated paid parental leave scheme?
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
2:39 pm
What this government has done is to identify exactly what we would do to bring Australia back into a sustainable fiscal position, and that is what the Leader of the Opposition has signally failed to do. The Leader of the Opposition has no credibility whatsoever when it comes to the economy. Let me quote from the Leader of the Opposition when he was a minister in the former government.
Ms Owens interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
He said: 'The 2012 budget delivers on the government's commitment to return the budget to surplus.'
Mr Tony Burke Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance
On a point of order, Madam Speaker, that of direct relevance. There is no way that this is directly relevant to what he was asked.
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
There is no point of order. The members for Adelaide and Chifley will desist.
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
Madam Speaker, I am explaining to members opposite how this government is fixing the problem that they created. The difficulty is that members opposite are in denial about the problem—just as they are in denial about the surplus.
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
The Prime Minister will resume his seat. We have already had a point of order on direct relevance.
Mr Tony Burke Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance
The Prime Minister has just said what he wants to do in this answer. He should do it—
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
Resume your seat! That is an abuse of the standing orders, and the member for Watson knows it. I would not advise him to do it again.
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
Madam Speaker, I can understand why members opposite are sensitive on this point, because they know a surplus is important and they know a surplus is important because they constantly talked about delivering it. But they never actually did. Again I quote from the Leader of the Opposition, when he was a minister in the former government—
Ms O'Neil interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
He said: 'We are bringing the budget into surplus.'—that is what he declared in this House— 'It is a remarkable accomplishment.' Let me repeat that, Madam Speaker. He said: 'We are bringing the budget into surplus. It is a remarkable accomplishment.' It was an accomplishment that they never actually achieved! That is the problem, and they have suddenly gone remarkably quiet, because they know—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
that you need a budget surplus for a strong economy. Not only did they not deliver it in their six years of government, and not only did they give us six record budget deficits in a row, but now that a government has been elected that is determined to fix this problem that they created, they are sabotaging it.
Ms Kate Ellis interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
They are the worst lot of wreckers and vandals in Australia's history. We were elected to fix the problems that Labor created, and fix them we will.