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

We just saw on display in the House, and the Australian people have just seen, how reckless and slippery the Leader of the Opposition is—how he will say anything and do anything for personal political power. We saw his personal alternative energy policy on display here today: he is powered by his own sense of self-satisfaction—and God forbid anyone who gets in his way. That has been the history of his political life, as those opposite will certainly learn as time goes on. People on this side of the House are very familiar with the member for Wentworth. They know that slippery barrister talk is no substitute for a sense of public policy and it is no substitute for committed values and a commitment to the national interest; there is only commitment there to the personal interest.

What we saw today is a leader of the opposition who is out of touch and out of control. Times like this do actually demand responsibility from political leaders. Yet what we saw today was an act of recklessness from a political leader who will say anything or do anything for political power. We have become reasonably familiar with that through the member for Wentworth’s political career and his time outside parliament. We have also become familiar with it over the past 12 months. It was only some months ago that he was attacking the Reserve Bank and also attacking the Treasury secretary, but he has already forgotten that because he simply moves on, day after day, hoping that people will forget what he did the week before and the week before that. But to do all this at a time of international financial turmoil shows just how reckless the Leader of the Opposition is. To do this in the worst financial conditions since the Great Depression shows that he will say and do anything for political power. That proves how unfit the member for Wentworth is for the high offices of Leader of the Opposition and alternative Prime Minister of this country.

Dr Henry, the Secretary to the Treasury, is one of Australia’s highest and most respected public servants. In the history of this country, he is one of our most pre-eminent public servants. He has served all sides of politics. He worked with the member for Higgins, might I say, for 12 years, and that is certainly a substantial achievement. He has proved he can work with both sides of politics and is therefore held in the highest regard, not just by those familiar with political life but by those out in the business community. He is also known for his commitment to a decent set of values when it comes to issues as important as conservation. So what does the Leader of the Opposition do in this House today? He irresponsibly asks the Prime Minister the question: ‘Will he sack the Secretary of the Treasury?’ That is exactly what he said. He has attempted to crabwalk away from that, using slippery barrister talk in his remarks here earlier—

See this speech in context