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

and they were regular, they were when I was in the office and they went into my in-tray. That is where they go. When I am home, they may go to my home fax. I do not know what the work ethic of the shadow Treasurer was when he was a minister, but, going by the laughter we heard yesterday when it was suggested that sending a fax to my home at 5.15 was some extreme event, I think that we can take it that they did not work weekends. I think we can take that. But this government does work hard and things are sent to the home fax.

I went through the fact before that Mr Grech sent some faxes to my home fax which were not invited because he hit ‘reply all’. The opposition seek to distort that fact. In fact, my departmental liaison officer went to some lengths to say to Mr Grech not to send faxes to my home—and that is on the public record for anybody to see. But, through my office, by phone, by email and by other contact there were numerous contacts with car dealers and the industry over a long period of time—and of course not all of them are documented, like they are documented in email. Nevertheless, that was what was going on through the period.

Those opposite simply do not understand the nature of the challenge that this country is facing. They do not understand what was going on during that period and so, as a consequence, cannot conceive that there was a huge volume of activity—

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