Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

Those opposite have told the Australian people at every turn that the policy they intend to pursue is austerity. They said the GFC was a six-week blip. No government gets to choose the global economic circumstances in which the budget is framed. But you do get to choose the priorities. Labor chooses a stronger, smarter and fairer Australia. While our economy remains resilient, powerful global forces and the stubbornly high Australian dollar have savaged budget revenues. When Labor are faced with a choice between cutting to the bone and putting jobs first, we proudly stand here and say, 'We are putting jobs first.' (Time expired)