Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

What I expect the shadow Treasurer to know, and what I expect to inform the debate about the economy in this country, is pretty simple: it is the facts. I know that might be hard for the shadow Treasurer to deal with, because it would require research and it would require the absorbing of information, but he should know, and he should not seek to misrepresent in this parliament, the strong growth that we have seen in investment. The shadow Treasurer, as part of the Leader of the Opposition's fear campaign, has been in this parliament in the past pretending that we will not see business investment, because of the carbon price, for example. But, actually, since we announced the carbon price, we have seen business investment grow and grow, by large amounts. Since the Minerals Resource Rent Tax was first announced by me and the Treasurer and the minister for resources, we have seen business investment grow in this country. What that means is: business people, informed by the facts rather than the blind negativity of the shadow Treasurer, knowing about carbon pricing and knowing about the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, have made the decisions to invest. The shadow Treasurer tosses his head, just as he seeks to toss the facts aside. You cannot toss the facts aside when talking about the Australian economy. We are seeing strong business investment, and a decent person would welcome it.

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