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

Mr Speaker, I was referring to the sincerity of assessments of the Australian economy to which the question referred. I am referring here to matters that are on the public record, indeed a quote from the Leader of the Opposition:

Well you take advice from your financial planners, you invest in things, you dispose of things.

A million here, a million there—what is the difference? The Leader of the Opposition is a clever politician but you have to watch what he does, not what he says, because that changes on a daily basis.

And I note that we have still not seen any commentary or any proposals with respect to one key question in the global financial crisis set of issues, and that is: what does the opposition have to say about excessive executive salaries? What does the opposition have to say about this issue? I note in the assessment of the issues associated with global circumstances that this is one thing that the Leader of the Opposition has yet to address.

The global financial crisis is not overhyped. It is very serious and it is presenting very substantial challenges to the government. But the government is meeting those challenges with sound economic management and clear positions on the issues and clear initiatives to deal with those challenges. The opposition says that it is supporting the government’s initiatives, that it has bipartisan support for those initiatives, and then within minutes walks away from that position and proceeds to start to snipe at all of those propositions. I urge the opposition to rethink its position and to take a serious, clear and consistent position on these issues, because they are too important for the behaviour that we are seeing from the opposition. We do not need an investment banker’s approach; we need a sound approach from government to dealing with the challenges that Australia faces, and the government will not be diverted from what is necessary to ensure the security and prosperity of the Australian people.

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