David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer ) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chifley for his question. This government is very proud of the fact that we have established the Parliamentary Budget Office, which provides an unprecedented opportunity for members of parliament to go and get their policies independently costed. That means that now, for the first time, there will be absolutely no excuses for parties to avoid getting their policies independently costed and having them out there before the Australian people before the election.

Of course, we have all seen the Leader of the Opposition out there running around with his so-called 'real plan'—that little pamphlet that he sticks up under his chin when he does a television interview. He tell us that he has a real plan, but we are just months out from the election and we still do not have a single properly costed policy from the opposition. That is because they are determined to hide their plans from the Australian people.

I read in the Daily Telegraph today that the member for North Sydney has issued a gag order on coalition MPs and coalition candidates talking to the Parliamentary Budget Office 'over fears that new laws will expose the coalition to greater scrutiny'. Well, we would not want that! It just goes to show you the extent to which they will go to avoid having their policies exposed to any scrutiny.

I do note that, to his credit, when the Leader of the Opposition was asked about this today, he said, 'Well, this is all news to me.' But I would have thought that, if the member for North Sydney was writing to his colleagues, the Leader of the Opposition would be at the very top of his mailing list, because when it comes to unfunded and uncosted policies, he is the chief architect. He is the one responsible for their $20 billion paid parental leave cash splash. He is the one that is responsible for the billions of dollars that they want to waste—

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