Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

It is absolutely urgent that the Treasurer has this matter cleared up before the parliament proceeds to anything else, because nothing could be more important than the question of whether this Treasurer is capable of telling the truth and whether this Treasurer did, in fact, tell the truth to the Australian people last Friday. This is very urgent, Mr Speaker. In response to a direct question, the Treasurer said:

Well first of all Mr Barnett did not communicate that he was going to do this to us.

We now know that this was absolutely false and this is why standing orders should be suspended—because the veracity of the government is just about the most important issue that any parliament can determine. This is the most important matter before this parliament. What we now know is the reason that standing orders should be suspended is so the Treasurer can finally clear this up. This is why standing orders should be suspended. It is absolutely necessary—

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