Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

‘We will get back to you’, said Treasury, but they want us to support measures totalling $100 billion and, from what we hear, an extension of the nation’s credit card from a limit of $75 billion to $200 billion. The government have had this in train for some time. We have not been party to this process—they never invited us. Other than our offering to be party to it they never engaged with us. There were not enough copies of this document—the Updated economic and fiscal outlook: February 2009to go to all the members of parliament. We could not even get copies of the document that is the basis of the argument for $42 billion of spending.

This is panic from the government. We are going to facilitate the government’s passage and debate of these bills, but we will not be gagged. We will not, under any circumstances, be put in a position where the government rams through the biggest spending initiative in Australian history—done at its convenience—and then be told to shut up, sit down and just vote for it. The government is telling us: ‘This is a take-it-or-leave-it package, and we are not going to show it to you. Just support it, shut up and sit down’. If this chamber has to sit until five o’clock tomorrow morning—as far as we are concerned, we will go through the night—no member of the opposition will be denied the right to speak on the biggest spending initiative in Australian history.

We will not be silenced and, whilst we recognise there is an issue to be dealt with before the chamber, the government’s attitude on this has been immensely uncooperative. The facts are that the government have brought before this House bills that we have not seen. They have demanded that we support bills that we still do not have. We have to declare a position on $42 billion of spending, the details of which we have not seen and which cannot be explained. For us to support all these initiatives and to vote on them in one day means that they are saying to us, ‘You have to support $42 billion in 42 hours.’ Do you know what? We care more about taxpayers’ money than to do that.

We will cooperate with the Leader of the House. This is going to be a very long day because the government has said to us, ‘Take it or leave it’. They have not given us copies of the bills and have simply said: ‘Please give us carte blanche to spend every dollar that is available—$2,000 debt for every man, woman and child—not just today, not just this year, but next year and for many years to come. We are holding a gun to your head. Pass these bills or we are going to shoot.’ That is very dangerous politics for the government. We will cooperate by allowing the government to have a cognate debate and we look forward to seeing these bills, which no-one has seen to date.

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