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

I was making the point that the Liberal and National parties in this House are simply out of touch with the everyday lives of average Australians. The shadow Treasurer said only last week that Australians have never been richer. That is what he said only last week. Despite the fact that the stock market has halved in value in recent times, his view is that the champagne is still flowing. Of course, when you have the opposition led by a merchant banker and lawyer for merchant bankers, it is no wonder that they are so far out of touch.

This government is dedicated to supporting jobs and cushioning the Australian economy from the impact of the global recession, and we will do everything in our power to achieve that. It would be so much better for the nation if there was some agreement from the opposition in this House on this critical national interest question. The public is crying out for some unity on this question. We have the support of the business community. We have the backing of the IMF. We have the support of most market economists. Why don’t we get the support of the Liberal and National parties in this House? It is because they want to play a bit of point-scoring politics—

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