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

I was saying before, that the attitude that has been taken today is similar to the attitude that their predecessors took with the PRRT. The PRRT was opposed, tooth and nail, by vested interests and by the Liberal Party but it has raised $28 billion.

A government member: They kept the money!

They kept it. They did not come into government and say, 'We'll get rid of it.' So, what we have seen again is that they are opposing the MRRT—the MRRT, which is an important long-term reform for Australia, to make sure that Australians get a fair share of the mineral wealth they own 100 per cent.

It just so happens that its introduction has coincided with a bout of global volatility towards the end of last year which had a dramatic impact on commodity prices—a very dramatic impact on commodity prices. This was not an impact on commodity prices that was forecast by anyone in the private sector, by any of the companies, and it most certainly was not forecast by our official forecasters. But the opposition should at least acknowledge that it has had a dramatic impact on revenue. And that is what the government has acknowledged.

But what the opposition will also not acknowledge is that in the second half of last year it was not just the PRRT and the MRRT; it was company tax, capital gains tax and so on. All of them took a very significant hit from this global volatility. The reason this is so important, and the reason this debate demonstrates just how dangerous those opposite would be if they were running the country, is this: what they are saying is that to make up this 'revenue hole', if you like, that has emerged because of all of these circumstances, they would take the axe to the social safety net and put a sledge hammer through our economy. That is how reckless they are.

And, of course, we heard in the House last week of the retrospective approach they would have taken during the global financial crisis, when they came in here and effectively said that during the crisis they would have cut to the tune of $160 billion, which was the revenue write-down. Well, where would the Australian economy be today if they had been in charge and done that?

So what all this demonstrates is just how dangerous they are, because they are in denial of the most basic facts that go to the core of Australia's prosperity and economic success over the past five years: the ability of a government to move in and protect people and protect families, understanding the volatility in a global economy. Lives depend on that but those opposite are a dangerous alternative because they do not understand the basic facts of our economy— (Time expired)

See this speech in context