Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) to a question without notice asked by Senator Cameron today relating to indexation of fuel excise.

When will the lies stop? When will this government ever stop lying to the Australian public? This is a government that came to power based on lies. In November 2013 we had lie-athons from this government. It was lie after lie after lie. They barefacedly said that there would be no increases in tax. They said that there would be no cuts to health. They said that there would be no cuts to education. They said the pension would remain untouched. On and on it went. Yet what do we have? Every one of those positions has been turned around by this government.

Now we move on to petrol. Can you all remember the then Leader of the Opposition standing, pouring the petrol, in a western suburbs petrol station, bemoaning the price of petrol and blaming the then government for the price of petrol? Now all that has changed, and it is the Prime Minister putting a tax hike on petrol for ordinary Australians.

Senator Ian Macdonald is one of the longest serving senators in this chamber. He is a senator who I do not have much agreement with on too many issues. But on this issue of the petrol tax, Senator Macdonald, we are as one, because I agree with you, Senator Macdonald, that this tax is wrong and unfair. And I agree that this tax will increase the cost of living and it is bad for people in regional Australia. This is not the Labor Party that is saying these things. This is one of the most senior and experienced Liberal senators in this chamber.