Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Look, there will always be this issue of debt. Who doesn't understand borrowing for a house? I think most Australians get that. They understand that, sometimes, to build really good things you need to borrow. But you need to do it responsibly, and that is exactly what we have done, with one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world, a debt that can be easily managed by the government.

Let us talk about what we know about the coalition. What are the facts? We know about Work Choices—and it has never been more real and it has never been more violent. There is one thing workers in this country understand—that is, the reality. It is a rolled gold guarantee. The Leader of the Opposition wants to slash the Public Service—whether with you need it or not, you are just going to have to cop it. The opposition want to cut funding to schools. It is really clear now that not only do the opposition have a hit list on schools but, in the view of Tony Abbott, public schools have too much fun. He did not say it just once. In case you did not hear the Leader of the Opposition, he repeated himself.

Mr Ewen Jones interjecting—

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