Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There was an interjection there from the Greens member. I am going to love hearing you. Your party leader said the other day that there should not be a debt ceiling, so I am going to love hearing what your backflip on this one is, cowboy.

The member for Fraser also spoke about tanking. This is a new term that I have not heard because I am from Queensland and I follow rugby union and rugby league. I know the previous speaker to be a man of integrity. He sits on the Economics Committee and he knows quite well the concerns that have been raised. Look at me now—you know quite well the concerns that have been raised publicly by the Governor of the Reserve Bank about the drawdown of capital. He has made those statements openly to the public. It is wrong of you not to acknowledge the Governor of the Reserve Bank's concerns about the behaviour of the previous government. It is wrong and you should acknowledge that.

You mentioned that we had not as a government articulated an argument or given good enough reason for the debt ceiling should be increased. The argument put today by the Treasurer was simply that peak debt was going to be $430 billion and that there was a requirement for a buffer of $40-$60 billion. That is the argument: peak debt plus a buffer of $40-$60 billion. You work it out. I had another couple of pages, but I am done, thank you.

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