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

I thank the member for Bendigo for his question. The government has set out its economic and fiscal strategy in the budget, and that is focused on three things: first, stimulating economic activity and sustaining jobs in the shorter term; second, investing for the longer term in the infrastructure and skills needed to drive the productivity growth that is crucial for Australia’s future prosperity; and, third, returning the budget to surplus in the medium term, repairing the fiscal damage that has been done by the global financial crisis.

It is true to say that there have been some criticisms of the government’s economic strategy—not many, but some, from the wider community and the business community, but most particularly from the Liberal-National parties opposition. I note with some interest that the focus of these criticisms tends to be on matters like the interest rates being paid by long-term bond holders, for example, early on in question time today. You do not hear a great deal from the opposition about jobs. You do not hear much from them about sustaining employment in the face of a global recession that is threatening the Australian economy and bearing down on economic activity. But, unfortunately, this is not the biggest problem with the criticisms from the opposition of the government’s economic strategy. They are entitled to choose their angles. They are entitled to choose the critique that they pursue against the government’s position. The biggest problem, however, lies with accuracy and coherence. It lies with their constant inability to get basic points correct. It lies with them, particular the member for North Sydney, the shadow Treasurer, consistently getting it wrong.

Now that the Higgins sideshow is over, the Costello sideshow has concluded, there is a very different situation that prevails with respect to the opposition. They have had three shadow treasurers in 18 months and I think people have been letting the member for North Sydney off a little bit lightly because they have assumed that he would not be shadow Treasurer by the time of the election on the current turnover rate. I think that has now changed because the person looming over both him and the opposition leader has pulled the pin.

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