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

The member for Banks has actually made a very important interjection, because it illustrates the point that the government of this country, under Liberal or Labor, from time to time enters into a variety of very serious obligations that are not necessarily legislated by the parliament, including decisions to go to war. So when John Howard decided to go to war in Iraq he did not go to the parliament first and get money for that decision. He made a decision and the government made a decision to go to war without parliamentary authority, which he was entitled to do under the executive authority of the Commonwealth. So it is within the executive authority of the government to take these decisions, and they will provide the guarantees under the basis of contract that these institutions require. Should it ever be required that a guarantee of this kind must be delivered upon, then that will need to be appropriated.

I conclude on this point: when this was announced by the government, the opposition said it gave bipartisan support to the initiative.

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