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

Those opposite do not understand that to take good public policy decisions you have to take into account the facts. When facts change in the global economy or in the national economy, responsible governments change their policy to support growth and jobs. That is what this government has done and will continue to do. When we changed policy at the height of the global financial crisis to support employment, we were opposed every step of the way by those opposite. If they had had their way, tens of thousands of small businesses would have hit the wall and a couple of hundred thousand Australians would have been unemployed—more Australians out of work.

Just as they advocated that approach then, they are now projecting that approach forward right now.

At the end of last year, there was a bout of instability in the global economy and commodity prices tumbled dramatically. All of that had an impact on our revenues, and we have taken the responsible and balanced decision to support economic growth by not cutting to make up for that loss of revenue. But those opposite are in complete denial. They say that we did not lose $160 billion during the global financial crisis. They just say that it did not happen. Well, it did happen. It has impacted upon our budget and, in the face of that, we supported jobs and growth.

They are now saying that what they would do is, at a minimum, hack away at the budget to the tune of at least $70 billion; the shadow Treasurer fessed up to this on breakfast television. He sat there beside the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and admitted that, even at that stage, there was a $70 billion hole. What we see here is a dangerous proposition from the Liberal Party of taking a sledgehammer to the economy by cutting at least $70 billion. That is one of the reasons why they will not put forward costed policies. They want to do a Campbell Newman and get through this year without admitting what their policies are so that, if they are elected, they can take a sledgehammer to the economy afterwards.

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