Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

There is no budget emergency to be seen after the election. And it is not just that: last year on 11 May, we heard the Prime Minister, then Leader of the Opposition, talking about debt limits. He went on radio 2GB—just for a change, to face a hard-hitting interview—and he said about the previous government's debt limit: 'The government has to justify this. Our money, our future is too important to be mortgaged like this without the government giving us the strongest possible arguments for it, because every dollar they borrow has to be repaid. Give us the strongest possible arguments for it.' Now, in office, they casually release an increase in the debt limit to half a trillion dollars, with no argument—and with no mid-year economic forecast—to justify this. And again, we saw the Prime Minister standing at that dispatch box today saying, 'We will release MYEFO in December, just like the previous government did.' That is the second misleading of the parliament in his first question time—one question time, two misleads of the parliament from the Prime Minister—because not once during the Rudd or Gillard governments was the mid-year economic forecast released in December—not once. A clear mistruth from the Prime Minister of Australia, standing at that dispatch box in question time. This is not something he told the Australian people before the election: that his government would seek an increase in the debt cap without releasing MYEFO—that is, a mini-budget. This is not something he said before the election; it is something he misleads the House about after the election, in the first question time. That is two misleads by the Prime Minister of Australia—two misleads of this parliament. That is treating the parliament with contempt. At least the member for Cook did not mislead the parliament; he just did not tell us anything! But the Prime Minister has misled this parliament twice on matters of economics.

We had the Treasurer standing at this dispatch box on 21 May 2012—you can just imagine him; he would have been in full flight, all bluff and bluster—and saying:

Now they are saying they are living within their means but are also saying, 'Just in case, please give us an increase in the credit card limit to $300 billion.' It does not sound like a lot if you say it quickly but it is a hell of a lot of money that Australians have to repay.

Three hundred billion dollars was a lot before the election; $500 billion is a mere trifle after the election—a mere bagatelle that this parliament should apparently approve without debate, in 24 hours, because the Treasurer says so in his arrogant way.

This parliament will approve a debt limit but not the one this Treasurer arrogantly calls for. (Time expired)

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