Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

On 24 November, the Australian people elected a government which did not believe that they had never been better off and which asked them to do something about cost-of-living pressures. The Australian people elected a government to take action on fuel prices. They did not elect a government to sit in Canberra and be cloistered from the real world like you had become after 11 years. They elected a government to hold retailers to account and to give motorists a fair go. That is what happened on 24 November, and we know you are having trouble coming to terms with it—but that is the reality, and it will continue to be so.

The opposition is talking about process. Let us have a little talk about process. Let us have a talk about the cabinet process. Let us have a talk about a robust cabinet debate where views get tested. Let us talk about a robust cabinet debate where people’s analysis is put to a rigorous test. And let us talk about when that does not happen. Let us talk about when you take a $10 billion water plan and do not put it to cabinet. You will not find any coordination comments on a $10 billion water plan, because it did not even go to cabinet. Let us talk about what the coordination comments from cabinet would look like on a little policy to spend $2 billion a year cutting petrol tax with no offsetting savings. Let us have a talk about what the Treasury, what the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and what the Department of Finance and Deregulation would think about that. Let us have a talk about real rigour and real process. We will not go around the cabinet process—we have a debate in cabinet and views are tested. What happened in this process? I brought forward a policy proposal—

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