Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Given the fact that it is 25 November, one month out from Christmas, and with apologies to Clement Moore, I have a poem for the House. Labor is fixated with the night before the election, so here is my poem:

Twas the night before the election, when all through this House

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stocking was empty, the cupboard was bare,

Because Labor had governed for six years without care.

Indeed they had. That is why our nation is in such a mess.

The member for Gippsland pointed out to me that during his effort the member for McMahon's was talking about the Prime Minister using an alibi in that the budget was worse than expected. Yes, Member for Gippsland, the budget was worse than expected, but an alibi is only needed, as the member for Gippsland pointed out, when a crime has been committed. The only crime that has been committed was by the Labor Party, and that was over six long, shameful years when they took the electorate for granted, they took the nation for granted and they took the economic management of our country for granted.

On 12 May 2011, Wayne Swan, then the Treasurer, was caught out on morning radio, when he could not answer as to the last time a Labor government had produced a surplus. It was pointed out that it was 1989, which was before the member for Longman even saw the light of day—before he was born. The member for McMahon was sworn in as Treasurer on 27 June last year, after those rather forgettable years of mismanagement by Wayne Swan, the member for Lilley, and he served until the election. The deficit blew out from $18 billion to $30 billion in just a few weeks prior to the election.

Then when the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook was produced, the Treasurer, Joe Hockey, discovered to his horror that the deficit was, in fact, $48 billion, with cumulative deficits as far as the eye could see—$123 billion. We heard in question time today—it may not have been heard in this raucous end of the chamber—the member for Fraser calling out, 'What are you doing about the deficits, Joe?' Fair dinkum! Love a duck! Really and truly! The deficits were caused by that side.

Seeing as I am into quoting today, Aristotle said more than 400 years before Christ, 'To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.' I think that probably sums up to this country what the Leader of the Opposition, who is not fit to lead, is all about. On 12 November this year, a journalist asked him, 'What would you say to Vladimir Putin if you came across him at the G20?' Shorten said, 'Nothing.' The journalist asked, 'Just to clarify, you would not seek to talk to Mr Putin?' Shorten said, 'Not in the first instance.' Doesn't that sum up what the member for Maribyrnong offers to this nation, what he brings to this parliament and what he gives to the Australian public? Nothing. It is absolutely diddly-squat.

The contrast between the coalition's success after just 14 months in government and Labor's legacy after six years in office could not be more stark. Contrary to what those opposite would have you believe and contrary to what the red-faced member for McMahon was shouting across the dispatch box, we are cleaning up after Labor's debt and deficit legacy. We are investing for the future. We are getting on with the job of building a more prosperous nation for Australians.

Labor did not have the stomach for difficult choices. But we are getting on with the job. I bumped into the Minister for Immigration the other day in the airport. He told me that we have closed nine detention centres. The member for Rankin might laugh, but we have closed nine detention centres. Most of the unauthorised arrivals in those detention centres came when the member for McMahon was doing the job or trying to do the job or, indeed, failing dismally at the job of being the immigration minister. Labor's policies allowed in 55,000 people—half of whom came under the member for McMahon's watch—who we then had to deal with and process. Each and every one of them cost taxpayers $170,000.

Labor put more beds in detention centres than they put into hospitals in Australia, which is absolutely shameful. If we had not had to spend money on those sorts of programs, maybe the ABC would not had to undergo the savings that it is now and would not have to undergo a saving of less than one per cent per year for five years of their $5,500 million budget. The choices are quite stark. You either get Labor again at the next election and they will bring back the carbon tax, a revised version of the mining tax and the illegal arrivals, or you stick with the government of the day, the coalition, who are building the roads, stopping the boats, ending the waste and doing everything that we said that we would do.

Let's not get too caught up in an interview on SBS the night before the election. Let's not get too cute about what might have been said the night before the election. We are doing things because our economic situation, as left by Labor, is in a mess and we need to fix it up. The mums and dads out on the street expect us to do just that. They do not get too caught up with the big words and weaselly words of the member for McMahon, who is just doing a job advertisement to be the next opposition leader. Do not worry. He is not counting the numbers of the deficit. He should have been doing that when he was the Labor Treasurer for a few short weeks. He is doing the numbers on getting the job of opposition leader. Quite frankly, I feel a little bit sorry for the member for Maribyrnong. I feel sorry the him because he has not got the wholehearted support of those people behind him. Nor does he deserve to have it, because he knifed two Labor Prime Ministers—Rudd and Gillard. Let's not forget that.

But the fact is we have a Prime Minister who has the wholehearted support of the Liberal and National parties. That is what we are about. We are about solid, strong, secure government. That is what we are bringing to the Australian people. That is what we are bringing to make sure that the debt and deficit legacy of Labor is but a distant memory. We have removed the carbon tax, as we said we would. That is a $550 saving for the average family. We have removed the mining tax, as we said we would, so that we can create jobs and growth in the electorate of, for example, the member for Flynn, who I can see in here. I know the member for Dawson was absolutely elated when that mining tax was lifted.

Had it not been abolished, Labor's mining tax could have been expected to raise $668.5 million over the forward estimates. But the associated spending by Labor was expected to reach more than $17,000 million. How could they raise $668.5 million but forward spend $17 billion and then go and promise the regions all these sorts of things that they knew they were never going to have to deliver? Labor knew they were never going to be able to deliver them because they knew they were not going to be in government. They knew that they had mucked it up so badly in six long, disastrous years that change was needed. Indeed, on 7 September last year, change was accomplished.

Achieving efficiency savings across the Commonwealth and the ABC has to occur. We would all love to be able to fund the ABC to the level it has now. But under Labor there were 10 per cent efficiency cuts in defence. Did we hear the chest beating and hand wringing from the ALP on that? Did we hear that once? Not really. They just came in and cut defence. They pared it back to pre World War II levels, back to 1938. People in my electorate were absolutely outraged. I know how people in the electorate of the member for Gippsland—who is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence and doing a damn fine job at it, too—were outraged about that. So let's not get too cute about a few cutbacks to organisations which need efficiency measures to be implemented. Let's not get too cute when their side actually cut back spending in defence by 10 per cent at a time when we were fighting a very deadly war in Afghanistan. Let's not get too cute about that. We have abolished the carbon tax. We are getting on with the job of building the roads of the 21st century. We are repairing the mess that Labor left. We are fixing up the budget so that we will, one day, get back in surplus.

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