Sean Edwards (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion that the Senate take note of answers given by Senator Wong to questions asked by Senators Abetz, Joyce, Cormann and Sinodinos. Senator Sterle, before you leave the chamber, you made mention that it does us no good as legislators to talk in such ways. It also does us no good to refer to the well-used and hackneyed saying 'smoke and mirrors', because that is exactly what your Treasurer, Mr Swan, delivered last night. We sat and listened to it. There are members in this chamber who sat with me and listened to the Treasurer's 'smoke and mirrors', as you refer to it. I specifically refer to Senator Abetz's question to Minister Wong. She lampooned Senator Abetz about the fact that the priority today is boats. It is boats. It is about credibility, it is about believability, it is about honour and it is about capacity in the budget. As we all know, last year they said, 'Come hell or high water, this surplus is going to be delivered.' Not only was it not delivered; it missed the mark by about $20 billion. That is the case for all the budgets that Labor have delivered. Might I say, you have been in government over the last 13 years, and in the last 12 years you have never delivered a surplus. In fact, I might make the point that over in the other chamber, Wyatt Roy, the member for Longman, has never seen a Labor surplus in his lifetime and is unlikely to, I would suggest, given the ruling class in the Labor Party.

I also take the point that the shadow minister for immigration, Scott Morrison, has made that Labor's boat budget blow-out has now eclipsed $10 billion since they have come to office, since they abolished those successful border protection measures of the Howard government. Ridiculously, last night the Treasurer stated that, while next year's planned budget is $3 billion, it represents a new record. These costs are reportedly based on an estimate of just 13,200 arrivals, which represents a drop of some 37 per cent on the arrivals to date this year—and we still have six weeks to go. So they are budgeting for fewer people to arrive, when in fact what is really happening out there is that there are more people arriving.

Once again I go back to: what do you believe? What is your belief? What do you honourably expect from a Treasurer and a government after six years in power, and what is their capacity? Senator Abetz said that, with all of this money that has been spent, we could have built five world-class teaching hospitals. I make that point again: five. In fact, in South Australia it could have gone a long way towards fixing up Labor's ridiculous expense of $2.2 billion on their desalination plant and now what they are saddling South Australian taxpayers with: a $2½ billion hospital, when the increased capacity needed in the forward years could have been done at the old site.

Once again it is just reckless spending: 'An extra $5 billion here, an extra $5 billion there—in fact, we'll make a prediction about next year's budget because we really aren't accountable. We haven't been accountable for the last year.' Five hundred times the Treasurer promised a surplus. Senator Wong in this chamber today said that there was some degree of accountability. There is no accountability, and it is a shame for this country. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.