Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The government has admitted using taxpayer money to fund a factional fight in the Liberal Party and used a pretence that there are constitutional issues behind this intervention. Isn't the only way to end the rorts, to end the waste and to end the corruption, to end this government?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. That question is clearly out of order. It is not unusual for matters that affect the Electoral Act or the way in which electoral laws work in this country for the Attorney-General or indeed—

Honourable members interjecting—

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the House will resume his seat. I will just say that a member may not like a question and may not like what is asked in a question, but that can be refuted in an answer. I don't believe that the question offends standing order 100. The question is in order and the Prime Minister has the call.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I don't agree with the assertions and allegations made by the Leader of the Opposition. I am very used to the Leader of the Opposition thinking sledging the government is an alternative economic plan. It is not an alternative to an economic plan. What the Leader of the Opposition thinks is that he can breeze into government without being upfront with the Australian people about what he would put in a budget after the election. The Australian people know what is in our budget. It was tabled this week. It has been voted on this week. What is in our budget is for everyone to see. Tonight, the Leader of the Opposition has to deliver his alternative budget, his alternative economic plan. This is a tired old opposition. Their last set of plans were rejected at the last election.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order, on relevance. It was a very specific question and it went to taxpayer money being used to fund a factional fight in the—

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. There was a proposition that was put on the question.

The member for Braddon is warned. There was a proposition in the question. There was a proposition in the question which effectively became a very, very broad question. If you don't want to open the gate, don't make it a broad question. The Prime Minister has the call.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. That is indeed the case. The Leader of the Opposition does not think he needs to put an economic plan before the people before the next election. He has been promising one. The member for Maribyrnong put a plan before the Australian people before the last election. They rejected it and the higher taxes, so this time around the Leader of the Opposition wants to get all clever and tricky by being a small target. Well, he is not a small target. He is a vacant space when it comes to economic plans, because you cannot defend the country, you cannot ensure the security of our country, of our budget, of our social security system without an economic plan. This is a Leader of the Opposition, this is a Labor leader, who won't tell the Australian people what his plan is. The Australian people know what our plan is. And here we are, in question time today—

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney is warned.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

and we are not getting questions on the budget. They've put up the white flag on the budget. We couldn't even get through a whole question time on the budget yesterday because they put up the white flag. They know that this is the economic plan that Australians need, that delivers real relief for real problems right now and a plan, as the Deputy Prime Minister said, that sets up economic opportunity for decades to come.

In the Labor Party, the opposition leader leads a tired old opposition made up of the relics of a failed government under Kevin Rudd. He doesn't even have the confidence to show the confidence in the member for Gorton as the shadow minister for defence.

There is a clear choice: myself as Prime Minister or a Leader of the Opposition who has never done a budget in his life. You have the shadow defence minister that even this leader of the Labor Party does not have confidence in. We have a plan. The leader of the Labor Party has no plan.