Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

To have leadership in this country, to be a leading government you have to be fundamentally honest with the Australian people about what the challenges that confront us are and how you are going to meet those challenges. It is completely dishonest of a political party in Australia today to pretend that the government's balance sheet is in good order. It is completely dishonest for a government to say things are fully funded when they are not fully funded. It is completely dishonest for a political party to say, in office, 'We will deliver four years of surpluses in four budget estimate years,' and not deliver a single budget surplus.

The starting point for leadership in Australia and the starting point for leadership in government is honesty with the Australian people about the challenges that we have. One of the largest challenges that we have at the moment, of course, is the debt and deficit legacy of a government that was completely addicted to expenditure and to new tax and revenue measures to fund it. It is interesting that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition today did not talk about the positive negative gearing plan that she said she has. She said it: it is a positive plan. Her plan and Bill Shorten's plan—

See this speech in context