Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Groom’s question goes to jobs—what generates jobs and what protects jobs—and I am responding to that both for the economy in general and for regions in particular. We have argued in this place that continued positive growth in the economy and in employment has occurred on the basis of stimulus through the course of the global financial crisis. The reason I am engaging in this debate is that the Leader of the Opposition has interjected across the chamber repeatedly that his position has never been one of opposition to stimulus. That is untruthful. That is fundamentally untruthful. The Leader of the Opposition has a very deep problem with telling the truth in this chamber. The Leader of the Opposition said that the economic stimulus was not necessary to strengthen Australia’s economy at a time of global recession.

We might well ask: was that just said, or was it written down? Guess what? It was written in a speech. Therefore, it is the full gospel truth. It was a considered, scripted, written speech in which he says that the economic stimulus was not necessary to strengthen Australia’s economy at a time of global recession. Not only was that wrong in terms of economics, but also he has been untruthful today in pretending he never said it. He did say it. That is their position, and it has been consistently.

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