Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Hansard source

Amendment (2), Mr Speaker, goes to the issue of both the data and information that can be acquired by the Parliamentary Budget Office and the secrecy provisions that surround it. If there is to be a Parliamentary Budget Office, which costs both sides of politics in an independent, honest, open and transparent fashion, we need to know: will that Parliamentary Budget Office cost the government's policies? Will it use the information that has been made available by Treasury and others to cost the government's policies?

The second question that I have asked is: when do we see released the costings carried out if we have done 100 per cent of all of our costings before the election, before the campaign proper? It is not a difficult question, Parliamentary Secretary, it is very easy. It is why I pitched up that dorothy dixer before to get you warmed up to answering some of the questions. You have to get in the mood, obviously. You have not looked at us all night. You have not opened your mouth. The way in which you are dictated to by the Manager of Government Business is a disgrace. This is an insult to the people on this side of the parliament. We will keep speaking and we will keep asking questions until you answer some questions, until we know whether this bill is something that we can support and until we know whether this amendment is necessary or not.

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