Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a bit rich to be lectured by Senator Joyce and the coalition on either climate change or economics. It is even richer to be lectured on economics by Senator Joyce, the shortest-serving shadow finance minister in the history of this parliament. How long did he last? Not very long. The Leader of the Opposition actually put him in there because he was supposed to be a great retail politician. I am not sure about the argument of being a great retail politician. He certainly is not an economist. He certainly has no capacity to deal in a rational way with the economic issues important to this country.

You only have to look at Senator Joyce last week, out there trying to oppose foreign investment in the farming sector of this country—opposing foreign investment in a farm that was in liquidation. Senator Joyce has absolutely no credibility when he stands up here and talks about economic issues, and I have to say neither has the coalition. We heard these arguments on economics today, but you only have to go back to the failed economics of the Howard government.

The Howard government were absolute economic vandals. They presided over one of the biggest boom periods this country has ever enjoyed. The money was flowing into that government hand over fist, so what did they do? It was tax cut after tax cut with absolutely no strategy, no economic basis—