Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One is tempted to ask the almost rhetorical question as to when the last time was that an opposition that controlled this Senate attempted to thwart the deliberate economic intent of the government of the day by not opposing, by not objecting to, by not rejecting a series of budget bills which seek to implement the electoral commitments of the government of the day. The answer is not in years and years but in decades and decades. The real question is what is the government attempting to achieve in this series of budget bills? The answer is this: we are seeking to pass a series of bills that respect and give effect to a range of commitments to a level of 100 per cent that were given to the Australian people, and approved and endorsed by the Australian people in late November of last year. We went to the Australian people on a policy of economic reform and we put a policy based around fiscal conservatism, which the relevant Treasury spokesman at the time repeatedly explained as large budget surpluses.

Why did we give a commitment to maintain large budget surpluses over the period of our government? It was because we knew that we had inherited a somewhat dire economic situation. Interest rates were on the rise and it was projected that they would continue to rise. We were fearful on the basis of advice from economic experts that inflation was going to take off. And as everyone in this Senate knows, if inflation becomes embedded in an economic system, it has the potential to harm and to destroy the economic welfare of millions and millions of people. We took the hard decision and explained it to the Australian people, and the Australian people endorsed large budget surpluses so that there would be a reduction on pressure to raise interest rates and there would be sufficient funds in the economy to meet necessary demand. At the same time, we had a raft of responsibly costed measures that went to a range of issues. Those matters were the subject of detailed scrutiny and examination for the best part of two whole weeks at Senate estimates, where the opposition had the opportunity to examine line by line a range of current and future government programs that went to the issues relating to spending and outlays. So they did that and they had the opportunity to receive information.

Now, in the last two weeks of the current sitting period, when the opposition still control the Senate, they use their numbers to not reject government measures—because they do not have the guts to come out and say, ‘We are going to reject those measures’—but, instead, to go down the easy path and postpone those measures. And they say that is something that has occurred in the past, that it gives the opportunity to examine legislation and that it gives the opportunity to have proper scrutiny. But what they do not explain and what they do not attempt to excuse is the wanton damage—as explained by others—that they seek to impose upon the Australian economy and on Australian taxpayers by delaying the necessary receipt of taxes for at least a period of three months to a value of almost $300 million. Not for the good reason that the particular policies are not worthwhile; not for the reason that the programs have not been endorsed; not for the reason that the particular issues have not received the support of the Australian people. No, they are not going to reject them outright when the opportunity comes. They intend to delay those measures, simply to go on a series of roadshows around Australia to re-examine—not examine—a range of measures which have been the subject of detailed and lengthy scrutiny. It is nothing other than an abuse of the Senate process to wantonly harm the current government’s budget, which was only some seven months ago endorsed by the Australian people. (Time expired)