Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thought—exactly—I had heard it all, Minister, and then I saw this MPI. This is an MPI in which those opposite are calling for us to have budget transparency. I am going to hear the mafia call for law and order campaigns next.

These people on the other side are incapable of demonstrating what they are able to do in terms of even meeting a surplus, even being able to show where they could make savings.

Mr McCormack interjecting—

Member for Riverina, you can rest safe at night. Can I tell you, member for Riverina, that those opposite have been working very hard. In fact, the member for Goldstein, as your shadow minister for finance, is working night and day to find those $70 billion in savings. And do you know what? After all that painstaking research and all that time at night, he has had his eureka moment: $50 million in savings in government consultancies—$50 million down, $69,950 million of savings to go. Thank you for your great work in identifying savings. What a joke. We have had the fastest fiscal consolidation in four decades, and the best they can do is reach for that old chestnut of government consultancies where they reckon they can save $50 million.

You know what? I will be happy to compare our record with the record of those opposite any day. We inherited inflation at just under four per cent, now under three per cent. With regards to total tax take, when those opposite were in power tax as a percentage of GDP was close to 24 per cent; now it is 21 per cent and headed lower. Regarding interest rates, there were only six months of the 11 years that they were in office during which it got as low as 4.25 per cent. Regarding spending, the member for Goldstein lectures us about spending. Nominate a year in which those opposite were able to cut government spending. One year; just one year—nominate it. You cannot. In 11 years, they were unable to reduce real spending, and in fact it grew in the last five years—

Mr Tehan interjecting—

See this speech in context