John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I do not know the particular circumstances to which the Leader of the Opposition is referring, but I do know something about the way real wages have moved under my government compared with how they moved under the government of which he was a member. As I have said frequently in this House, when it comes to the impact of industrial relations changes, my guarantee about real wages is my record. What the budget has done is to address in a very real way the concerns of millions of Australian families who are obviously feeling the impact of higher petrol prices.

I am interested that the Leader of the Opposition mentions petrol prices, because I seem to recall the Leader of the Opposition doing an interview on 6PR, I think in October or November last year, when he was asked whether it was a good idea to cut the petrol excise. He said: ‘No, it’s not. The way in which you help people with higher petrol prices is to cut their tax.’ And that is exactly what this government has done.

I am fascinated with the Leader of the Opposition, because I heard him this morning say that the tax cuts in the budget were long overdue. That is very interesting. They are long overdue in 2006, but who voted against them in 2005? None other than the person who asked me the question. I do not think the Leader of the Opposition has a lot of credibility in asking me about so-called triple whammies.

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