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

Unreservedly, I withdraw. We know the Treasurer breaches his promises. We also know that the government has not complied with the Charter of Budget Honesty. The Charter of Budget Honesty, which is the law of the land—very clear—says that the Intergenerational report shall be released five years after the last one. Five years has been and five years has gone, and the Treasurer has not released the report.

The Intergenerational report is not a Labor invention. It is something instituted by Peter Costello as Treasurer. It is something that the Labor Party honoured in office, because we could see the benefit. We could see it has become an important document. We welcome the discussion around the Intergenerational report. And what does this Treasurer do? He cannot even get his homework in on time. He sits on the report. Why? Because he sees the Intergenerational report as his political plaything. He sees the Intergenerational report as his excuse—his political opportunity to try and reboot the budget debate. 'Let's have another go,' he says. 'We've only had 76 reboots; let's have another go. Let's release the Intergenerational report.' But he releases it in a time frame which is not allowed for by the Charter of Budget Honesty—very, very clearly. As much as the government may try to ignore or deny the fact, the fact is clear: the law is clear and this government is in breach of it. And, when the Treasurer eventually gets around to releasing the Intergenerational report, it will be clear that he has used it as his political plaything. He has used it as his political plaything to make up for the fact as an excuse that he has a budget which he cannot sell. And the fact of the matter is he cannot sell it because it is an appalling document; it is a bad product to sell by bad salesman who has seen consumer and business confidence fall on his watch.

Now, we are about to get a job application from the Assistant Treasurer. We are about to get a job application from him. If he does his job, he will comply with the law. He could release the Intergenerational report. He could to do it. He could say, 'I'm not going to breach the law', but he will not. He will not, because this government— (Time expired)

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