Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fowler for that question, because the Australian economy walks tall in the world. Our economy is now 11 per cent higher than when we came to office, and of course we have done that during a period when many other developed economies have gone backwards. One of the reasons that we are in this strong position is that during the global financial crisis and the global recession we put in place a range of policies to support employment and to support small business. We did this in the face of the worst global downturn in 80 years. That meant that we avoided the skill destruction and we avoided the capital destruction of small businesses that we see right around the world, which are holding all of those developed economies back.

But, most importantly, why did we do that? We did it to protect communities. We did it to protect families. We did it to protect small businesses. We did it because we understand that we live in a community; we do not just live in a corporation, and we bring those values towards our decision-making processes. We want to protect the very social fabric of our communities. Of course, to do that, you also have to invest in the future, and that means investment in education in particular: in schools, in vocational training and in universities. That is why we have found savings in our budget over the past five years to make room for those priorities. We have put in place a responsible fiscal policy. It is all about making sure that Australians have jobs and about getting a fair go, not just everything going to the fortunate few.

We on this side of the House will always stand up for working Australians. We will not have any part of tearing them down, which is why what we are seeing in Queensland and New South Wales at the moment is so regrettable. The big axe is being taken to health and education, having dramatic impacts on the lives and lifestyles of tens of thousands of Australian families right around the country, and there is the big attack on education spending in New South Wales as well—indiscriminately wielding the axe, cutting the basic services that go to the very basic fabric of our society.

We know that this is just a warm-up act for Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey, because they have a $70 billion budget crater.

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