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

There is a stark contrast between the government and the opposition. Labor has got its sleeves rolled up and is taking the tough decisions for the future of the country to support jobs, and what we are getting from the opposition is just negativity and scare campaigns—reaching the dizzy heights of negativity. You can just see him at the next campaign, out there saying to the Australian people: ‘No, we can’t! We can’t deal with the challenge of climate change. We can’t deal with making our country more prosperous by investing in infrastructure. We can’t invest in the NBN. No, we can’t.’ Well, I will tell you what: the Australian people respect those who have the guts to take the tough decisions for prosperity. That is what this government is doing, and everybody knows that what is being said by the opposition is a big con job. Pretending you can deal with carbon emissions in a cost-free way is nothing other than a con job. Those opposite want to tax families and hand the money to polluters. What we want to do is charge polluters and give the money to households and industry.

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