Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, I am sorry, the member for Cook is an exception. So we support those three measures. If you put them all together, that is a reasonable amount of money. Then you go to their promises which they have been putting out all year—on ready-to-mix drinks, luxury car tax, crude oil excise condensate, Medicare levy surcharge, heavy vehicle road user charge, dental treatment offset, Commonwealth seniors health card, family trusts, and this is the inter-esting one: the 5c reduction in petrol excise. What status does that have these days? Not sure. There is also Investing in our Sch-ools, Lower Lakes and the increased rate of the single pension. Putting all those toge-ther, is it five, 10, 15, 20 billion—could be more?

Can I say to those opposite, if they are seriously putting forward an argument about fiscal rectitude, first of all put together what you have supported by way of government measures to stimulate the economy in terms of your formal press releases and the three that I have just mentioned you formally have. Secondly, put together the five, 10, 15, 20 billion dollars worth of outlays contained in the promises you have made to the Australian people and you end up with a very interesting set of fiscal circumstances indeed. I would say to the honourable member for Mitchell, as he put this question to the House on how budgets are put together, that he should have a long look at the fiscal probity which is contained in the promises being put out by the Liberal Party in opposition.

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