Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Business and taxpayers alike will be contributing to the blow-out in costs associated with the rollout of the NBN. Locals are also complaining about an upgrade to the M1—if funds were redirected from the NBN, maybe we could get finished some of infrastructure in Queensland the member for Oxley was talking about. Where is the value for money? How are Australians expected to believe that this government is looking out for their best interests? Bribing everyday Australians with handouts and compensation is not looking after their best interests, and the old pea and thimble trick of taking with one hand and giving with the other is not going to work either.

I sometimes wonder whether those opposite are wearing green tights under their clothes. It seems to be an inspiration gained from acting out their own roles in a new kind of Robin Hood drama where the Labor government continues to rob from the rich to give to the poor. What they do not seem to appreciate is that most of their economic policies for the past four years have actually done more damage to the people they purport to seek to assist than they have done to the rich. We saw this with the changes to the private health insurance rebate, and we saw it with the carbon tax and its evil twin, the mining tax.

The centrepiece of this year's budget in the past 12 months has been the world's biggest carbon tax. No accounting trick or bribe can hide the strength of the carbon tax and its deleterious effect on the Australian economy and confidence in our nation. The carbon tax is socialism dressed up as environmentalism. It is just one of the vehicles Labor is hoping to drive from red town to black town. But it is all based on a promise, on a wing and a prayer, in 18 months time. Given this government's track record, I am not holding my breath.

The world's biggest carbon tax is based on a lie. It will destroy jobs and do damage to household budgets and our economy in general. It is another example of this government's solution to every problem, which is to tax it, increase the cost for Australians and then give back with the other hand. The urgent need to see the budget return to surplus comes as the level of net debt soars to its highest level in our history. The guilt of Labor's spending spree is starting to set in, and now the government are desperate to get the budget back into surplus. They realise the urgency of it now, before interest on the Labor government's debt reaches the $7 billion mark. What a waste. This $7 billion could have been used to pay for a National Disability Scheme.

As I said earlier, Labor are right at home in the red. They have not delivered a surplus since 1989-90. Labor have not delivered a surplus, as the member for Dawson touched on earlier, in the member for Longman's lifetime. At this stage this surplus is a promise only—and, given Labor's interpretation of a promise, I really have to question whether we will see that surplus in September 2013. We are more likely to see the Disney blockbuster sequel to Pinocchio before then. This is a budget that will be based on cooked books, with the Treasurer being the master chef. The forecast surplus will be based on fiddled figures with spending brought forward or pushed back. For example, the bulk of the NBN expenditure is not even in the budget documents—it is mostly for standard spending like digging trenches and laying cable—just by treating it as an equity injection.

Today's MPI stresses the urgent need to return the budget to surplus, invest in boosting productivity and provide open and transparent costings to the Australian people. Improving productivity and innovation is going to come about through lower taxes and lower regulation, not increased taxes and increased regulation—both of which this government have been absolutely consummate professionals at. It was noted that, if the government were being honest with the Australian people, the real starting point would be a $8.5 billion deficit not a $1.5 billion surplus. Labor have an appalling record in forecasting budget and economic numbers. It is this that makes me rest quite comfortably that they will not produce a surplus in 18-months time.

It is the coalition that has a proven ability to manage the economy. The urgent need to return the budget to surplus, invest in boosting productivity and provide open and transparent costings to the Australian people will not be achieved by this current government but through a coalition government that will bring reward, hope and opportunity to the people of Australia.

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