Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

This evening I wish to make a few comments in relation to Australia’s current economic situation and also to respond to some of the mantra that we have been submitted to, question time after question time, by ministers opposite. Mere repetition of an assertion does not turn it into a fact. Unfortunately, it seems that Senator Conroy and others opposite think that simply repeating a mantra which is clearly wrong turns it into a fact. I can assure them that it does not. The thing that does concern me is that this continued repetition might unfortunately mislead some of our fellow Australians.

The issue that I first of all want to address is the assertion by the Prime Minister and his government that they are somehow economic conservatives. Indeed, I nearly choked when I heard Mr Rudd say that he was an economic conservative—that he always has been and always will be. I invite fellow Australians to read his first speech to the Australian parliament, where he attacked for about five minutes—about a quarter of his speech, I would assume—the policies of one Margaret Thatcher. He has always been an economic conservative and yet the very first speech he gave in this parliament was designed to attack Margaret Thatcher’s policies! That is fine. That is what we expect of those from the left of the parliament—I accept that and I even respect it. But then please do not have the audacity to assert, contrary to what you said in your first speech, that somehow you have always been an economic conservative.

Then, in delivering his first budget, the Prime Minister told the Australian people that it was ‘a traditional Labor budget’. If it is a traditional Labor budget, and we are to believe that he is an economic conservative, we should be believing that Labor budgets at all times have been economically conservative.