Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Themselves, that’s right. There was a lot of talk about themselves, because they had their eye on each other. They did not have their eye on the Australian people. Otherwise they would have known and they would have acted, and they did not choose to act at any stage in those 12 long years. In contrast, what have we done in just six months? Let us just run through it—it is quite worth while. We have agreed to a $4.4 billion education tax refund—they never did. We have agreed to a $1.3 billion childcare tax rebate—they never did. We have agreed to a $1.2 billion first home saver account—they never did. We have got the runs on the board when it comes to delivering for working families under financial pressure and for seniors. For 12 years they neglected them.

We understand that when it comes to the price of petrol, when it comes petrol retailing, we do need a new approach—an approach that you could not manage to come to in 12 long years. The Manager of Opposition Business over there spent his last 12 months in government ripping away at the wages and working conditions of average Australians. Shame on him! We make no apology for supporting FuelWatch. This is an important initiative. It just shows how much contempt those opposite have for the Australian consumer, because this proposal at its very core gives knowledge to all consumers in a way in which nothing has been put in place in this vein before. What it does is give every motorist who wants to look for the best price on any given day the potential to get there and achieve it—that is what it does. What it does is to take the sale of petrol and democratises it so that consumers can find the cheapest price. At the moment it is a racket. The way in which the fuel price cycle works works to the disadvantage of most consumers. Some are lucky to take advantage of it. Some may get it on Tuesday. Our proposal gives consumers the capacity to get the benefit every single day. We are up against powerful vested interests who do not like this proposal, because this proposal does empower consumers. Knowledge is power. FuelWatch will put before motorists the essential pricing information they require to get the best price on any given day. You treat Australian consumers with such contempt that you do not even understand the very basis of this proposal.

There has been some comment about how there is differing bureaucratic advice coming forward to the government. We welcome differing advice as part of a very healthy policy debate that this government is having, because we have set a new direction in this country. It is a direction which will deliver benefits to working families in a way in which you never, ever contemplated. That is why FuelWatch is so important. And we did follow the evidence. We followed the evidence from the ACCC, and this is very important, because the ACCC is the body with the expertise to do the necessary evaluation of what is required. It has done that. The chairman, Mr Samuel, will be placing that before all of you to see. You will not have a leg to stand on, because the work is in. The consumers in Western Australia know it, the ACCC knows it. The only people who do not understand these issues are those opposite, who are so out of touch they are simply incapable of analysing this issue.

Essentially the current arrangement has removed competitive risk from the marketplace. FuelWatch is going to empower consumers to get the best price. Where does this all fit in to the approach of the opposition? Where it all fits in is that this opposition is so bereft of ideas and so out of touch, all we have is short-term political opportunism. What we do not have is a fundamental framework that meets the needs of the economy, that tackles the inflationary challenge, that does something about putting downward pressure on interest rates and that sets this country up for the future.

But what do we get in the face of responsible proposals from this government? We bring down a responsible budget to try and clean up the mess that they left us. Did we accept responsibility for cleaning up their mess? We accepted responsibility for cleaning up their mess on day one. I just wish they would accept some responsibility for creating it—the 16-year high in inflation and zero productivity growth. This is the legacy of those opposite. And they are so embarrassed about it that all we get is a flood of short-term, opportunistic stunts in this parliament. But I tell you what: we have been over there for a while and we understand—they do not work. We have tried a few in our time, and I tell you what, they do not work—and they are not working for you. They are not working for you because what you are doing simply does not add up. You are not credible on economic policy. It does not matter how many speeches you have at the National Press Club, you will not be allowed to get away with the fraud of pretending you had a budget response. There was not one costed alternative proposal in 4,365 words at the Press Club—not one.

I do not think in the last decade or so there has been a shadow Treasurer who has had the gall to go to the Press Club and not present an alternative budget reply. But this guy did. It was not a budget in reply, it was a Brendan in reply. That is what it was—out there stalking his leader because he does not actually have the time or the desire or the understanding to come to grips with the fundamental policy challenges this country has to tackle. What are they? Tackling inflation, lifting productivity, investing in the future—all of those things are at the heart of a credible economic policy. Those opposite have become utterly irresponsible and it has taken this shadow Treasurer just six months to shred their remaining cred when it comes to economic policy, just six months to completely shred their economic credibility. They should be censured.

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