Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I say respectfully to the member for Bass that if those opposite didn't want the fuel excise relief to end on Wednesday night, why did they legislate that before the government changed hands? I find it very concerning that those opposite are either being dishonest about that or don't understand that that's the legislation that they put into this parliament, that the fuel excise relief will stop on Wednesday night of this week. We've been very upfront with people—before the election, during the election and after the election—that, when you inherit a budget which is heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal Party debt from those opposite spraying money around to their mates, giving money out to everyone who comes through the door, that necessitates some difficult decisions on this side of the House. We could do what those opposite have done and pretend away these fiscal pressures which are damaging the budget and making it harder for us to provide cost-of-living relief to Australians right around the country—

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