Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I start my contribution by congratulating Senator Cormann on the work he has so far done in this very, very complex issue—an issue, I might add, most Australians and certainly many senators, including me, do not have an intimate knowledge of. And, if Senator Dastyari were to stay in the chamber, he might learn something.

Having listened to Senator Dastyari's five-minute tirade, can I just ask him: where was the Labor Party over the six years of government, when the rorts and tragedies that occurred in the financial advice area were all happening? The Labor Party, of which Senator Dastyari is now a parliamentary member, which presided over those real issues at the time of the Storm Financial arrangement, did not do anything at all to help Australians who were relying on advice from financial planners.

Senator Dastyari has had a lot to say. It is a pity, I think, that he did not turn his mind to this matter in the days when Labor was in charge of these areas. The previous speaker is very big on criticising a government that is actually doing something about the matter but very silent when it comes to why he and his party did not do something over the previous six years.

We have to address a number of issues. The main issue which is causing the government real problems is how to deal with the financial situation of our nation, our so-called big home, where under the Labor regime we were spending far more money than we were earning. We all know that, under Labor, the debts and the borrowings blew out to the extent where, in the course of time, Labor's debt legacy will be approaching $600 billion.

People perhaps do not quite understand how governments work. But can I say it is very simple. It is like your own household budget: you cannot spend more than you earn. You cannot keep borrowing and borrowing because, some day, you have to pay it back. You certainly cannot borrow to pay the interest on previous borrowings. That is what was happening under the Labor government. This is a tragedy and it is one of the great dangers and real problems that have been left to the current government to sort out. People like Senator Cormann and Mr Hockey have been working brilliantly, I think, to try to address all those issues, including the issue that Senator Dastyari raised in this debate on answers to questions in question time.

So, Senator Dastyari, were it not for the fact that our senior economic ministers are spending most of their time trying to sort out the mess that your government left them, they may well have been able to concentrate more on the issue which you raised. All of these issues involving money are matters which have been very well handled by Mr Hockey and Senator Cormann. They have been doing a wonderful job so far in fixing Labor's financial mess. I can assure Senator Dastyari and other senators in this chamber that you will get the same sort of competent, sensible, mature solution of the issues which seem to be worrying Senator Dastyari so much.