Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (New Mandate and Other Measures) Bill 2013. This is the second bill dealing with the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, EFIC, that has come before parliament this year. As I noted in my speech regarding the previous bill, according to its official website, EFIC provides finance and insurance solutions to help Australian exporters overcome the financial barriers they face when growing their businesses overseas. It is the Australian government's export credit agency and assists export trade or overseas investments where the private market is unable to do so. Specifically, EFIC works directly with exporters or with their banks to provide loans, guarantees, bonds and insurance products not otherwise able to be provided by the private sector.

The previous bill sought to amend the financial arrangements of EFIC to provide for the payment of a special dividend of $200 million and any adjustments to EFIC's callable capital that may be necessary in future. The coalition did not oppose the bill at that time because we knew that this was just another aspect to Labor's failings when it comes to the management of its budget. It was part of the government's raid for every dollar of cash it could raise, and in fact it was surprising that EFIC had been untouched up until that time. This $200 million raid on EFIC came about because the government's finances are in a mess, and on Tuesday night we saw one of the most dishonest budgets presented since Federation. Labor's budget surplus promise is farcical, no-one believes it—I do not why they even bother to say it. The budget has plans for more and new taxes.

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