Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today, on budget day—or at least I think it is after the spectacle of question time yesterday, when some of us were left wondering after we saw our Treasurer not quite sure what day budget day was and having trouble counting to two. In education parlance he was having difficulty with one-to-one correlation.

We also saw the Deputy Prime Minister discussing sexually transmitted infections and carp, completely disrespecting a question from his side. We had a Prime Minister being agile with the truth and demonstrating yesterday only that he is obsessed with the Labor Party and with our leader, Bill Shorten. Of course, why wouldn't he be obsessed with a party that has 100 policies in the field? Why wouldn't he be obsessed about that? And why wouldn't he be obsessed about a party that is showing unity and demonstrating everything that he cannot find on the other side in government? We have the united team that he can only dream of.

Even the word 'budget' must be sending shivers down his spine because of course the ghosts of budgets past are walking the hallways today. We know that the 2014 budget—that cruel, unfair budget—will be back. If not tonight, then if this government is returned the 2014 budget ghost will be back and visited upon the Australian people.

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