Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I have no idea what is on billboards in Sydney. The former Leader of the Opposition, on major economic issues, had a habit of sitting on the fence. At least he knew where the fence was. That was helpful. The current Leader of the Opposition and shadow Treasurer have been all over the place with respect to the opposition’s economic policy in their first week and a half in place—plagiarising the Wall Street Journal, not knowing the Reserve Bank interest rate and, most importantly, in the Senate knocking over tax relief for middle-income earners. In truth, the opposition do, in reality, have a plan, even though they do not know they have a plan. Their plan is simple. The Liberals have a three-point plan for economic policy: spreading fear, spending money and wrecking the surplus. That is the three-point plan for economic management that the Liberal Party are putting forward.

The government has a very different plan. The government has a plan that is built around investing for the future, that is built around investing in infrastructure and skills, that will deliver the economic capacity that will deliver prosperity into the future, that will deliver sustainable long-term growth for Australia’s economy and ensure that the working people and pensioners of this country have decent living standards in the future. The government will stick to that plan. The government remains committed to delivering that plan, notwithstanding the obstruction and resistance in the Senate. We will continue to pursue all of the elements of our budget in order to deliver the surplus that will be the foundation stone for long-term sustainable growth.

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