Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He said that, and he has repeated that, and that is great. But he also must forget the opportunism that went with some of that. I am not going to dwell on this, but while you, Senator Mason, say the government of the day supported the floating of the dollar I recall as an observer of politics at the time—I certainly was not here—during question times that shadow ministers in the opposition would jingle change in their pockets to reflect how the dollar had in fact dropped in value. I also remember former Prime Minister Howard, again in an opportunistic remark, saying that the strength of the Australian economy is directly related to the value of the Australian dollar. Senator Mason, I think if you were actually going to be completely honest with us, it was not the fulsome support that you suggest was there—