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

What happened in the Senate this afternoon was that the government voted for jobs and the Liberal and National parties voted against jobs. That is what happened. What happened in the Senate this afternoon is that the Labor Party and some of the minor parties voted for nation building and the Liberal and National parties voted against nation building. This is a bit hard to comprehend, because as the Prime Minister indicated before we are in a global recession. We saw on the weekend the worst employment figures in the United States in 35 years, and this global recession is impacting upon this country and upon jobs in this country. You would have thought that, when a responsible package—a Nation Building and Jobs Plan put forward by this side of the House to cushion the impact of the global recession on jobs in this country—was put forward, any responsible opposition would have supported it. You would have thought they would have supported it.

Every reputable economist in the world is supporting substantial fiscal stimulus. The IMF is supporting substantial fiscal stimulus; ACCI, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is supporting fiscal stimulus; the Australian Industry Group is supporting fiscal stimulus; the Business Council of Australia is supporting fiscal stimulus—but not the Liberal and National parties in this House. They are not supporting fiscal stimulus because their opposition to this nation-building plan is all about the ego of the Leader of the Opposition; it is all about his self-interest—his personal political interest—and it is not about the national interest.

See this speech in context