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

I thank the member for Banks for his question, because our budget is all about putting jobs and growth first. Of course, the results are in. From day one we have always supported jobs and growth, and the consequence is an economy that is 13 per cent larger than it was at the end of 2007. There have been 950,000 jobs created during this government's period in office, but we face a transition in our economy and that transition brings with it challenges. There are the challenges of the higher dollar—and we have seen the consequence of that at Ford for the workers there and their families. But this government will do everything within its power to assist those affected with the consequences of that decision that has come from Ford.

We on this side of the House do have a commitment to supporting the workforce in these areas. But the budget I brought down over a week ago gets the big economic decisions right and, in particular, the long-term sustainability of the budget so we can make the right investments for the future to secure prosperity.

Of course one of the big decisions that this government has taken is paid parental leave, which is now rolling out to 280,000 Australian families. They are benefiting from paid parental leave because we have a responsible and affordable paid parental leave scheme which stands in very stark contrast to the scheme put forward by the Leader of the Opposition, who wants to pay $75,000 to the families of millionaires.

We have seen some commentary about this in the papers today from the banking industry. They are saying that, because the Leader of the Opposition is going to jack up company tax, they are going to jack up interest rates; they are going to jack up their margins; they are going to put up mortgages for the average Australian family—

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