Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. In the 11 years of the Howard government the average productivity was 2.4 per cent. In the final five years of the Howard government, labour productivity was 2.8 per cent. In the final five years of the Hawke-Keating government, labour productivity was 2.3 per cent. However you want to look at labour productivity figures, they were lower during the Hawke-Keating years. It is interesting to note—and the Assistant Treasurer would know this—that it is easy to have productivity figures high when real wages decline. And in the 13 glorious years of the Hawke-Keating government what happened to real wages? They declined by two per cent. What happened to working families in 13 years? Their wages, their take-home pay after inflation, went backwards by two per cent. What happened after the 11 years of the Howard government? Real wages for working families after inflation went forward. How far? They increased by 20 per cent. It is easy to sit there and quote a productivity increase when real wages go backwards two per cent.

But the budget does not end there. We can look at one of the sneaky things that this government have put through—and the Assistant Treasurer would know this very well. They have not used deflation by non-farm GDP. No, they have deflated their outlook by CPI to give them a better result. If they had kept the traditional deflation measure by non-farm GDP, they would realise that the expenses in the 2009-10 financial year grow by almost five per cent—the highest growth in expenses since 1990 taking out, of course, the GST. I did not see that in the Treasurer’s speech. That was hidden on some page within the budget itself. I, of course, have constituents, people like Paul Hamilton from Runaway Bay, now asking questions about fuel because Labor promised to bring the price of fuel down. Labor promised to bring grocery prices down. Let me reiterate to the member for Leichhardt the words of the Leader of the Opposition: watching fuel prices does not bring them down. Your attack on condensate simply sends a message to the world that if you come and mine and explore in this country then you cannot believe the promises of a Labor government because they will change them. This is an appalling budget. This is an appalling motion. This is a complete waste of the House’s time and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.

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