Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to his earlier statement that the government is unwinding the stimulus next year. Treasurer, how can you possibly claim to be unwinding the stimulus when 40 per cent of the $106 billion of new additional spending announcements since the 2008 budget kick in from 1 July next year? Moreover, how can you make that claim when even in 2012-13 government spending as a percentage of GDP will be nearly 2½ per cent higher than what you inherited in 2007?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is not bad coming from someone who was a member of a government that was the highest taxing government in Australian history, spent like a drunken sailor at the height of a boom and presided over 10 interest rate rises in a row when it had promised to keep interest rates at record lows. That is the record of the Howard government, and we will not do what it did, which was to mislead the Australian people when it claimed it would keep interest rates at record lows. That is what it did. It told a lie to the Australian people and it was sprung at the last election. That is exactly what happened. So let us have no more humbug from those opposite when it comes to interest rates.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: if he cannot answer it, it was about record levels of spending.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney knows that that is not a point of order.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Answer it.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney should contain his enthusiasm.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, more sloppy work from the shadow Treasurer. He is famous for it, because he has no attention to detail and he gets it wrong most of the time. He was in here twittering yesterday in question time. That gives you some idea of the attention to detail and their focus on alternative policy. What lies at the core of the argument that is being put forward by those frauds opposite is simply this: somehow they are claiming that the responsible borrowing that we had to do—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Responsible borrowing?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, responsible borrowing—responsible borrowing to save the Australian economy, responsible borrowing to support business, responsible borrowing to support workers—something which never has a priority with those on that side of the House.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, a point of order on relevance—spending. Stop spending money.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In coming to the dispatch box and raising the point of order, the member for North Sydney quite succinctly went to his point of order, being relevance, and then added matter that had no relation to the wording of his question. He went to argue a case.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I didn’t.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would think that shouting ‘Stop spending’ is putting a case and is debating. Whether it is the right case or the wrong case is not for me to decide whilst in this chair. I simply say to the member for North Sydney that that is an abuse of the opportunity that I have protected for people to raise points of order and I would hope that he desists from that in future.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a consequence of the global recession, the government had to borrow to cover the revenue collapse—and there was a revenue collapse of $210 billion. Those opposite do not want to acknowledge that fact because, presumably, if they will not acknowledge that fact, they can come into this House and tell us how they were going to make up the difference. Were they going to cut government services by $210 billion or were they going to put up taxes by $210 billion? If they had done either of those, they would have crashed the economy.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: the Treasurer was asked a question about winding back the stimulus, which is clearly a question about spending not a question about revenue, and I therefore ask you to draw him back to the question.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will respond to the question.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We did have to borrow responsibly to support the economy. Those opposite will not acknowledge that and what they have to nominate is the increased taxes or the services cuts they would have put in place to replace the loss of $210 billion. This goes to the very core of their economic credibility. It is the case that we have borrowed responsibly for economic stimulus, and they will never understand that our stimulus has been carefully designed to withdraw from the economy as the private sector recovers. That is how it is designed; that is how it is constructed. It means doing all the heavy lifting that those opposite have opposed every inch of the way when private demand was at its lowest. Withdrawing it is just common sense as private demand returns. So they have it so wrong on stimulus. All of this hysteria and all of their scare campaigns are about camouflaging the fact that they have not got a clue what is going on—absolutely clueless.

They said the stimulus would not work; now they are saying it has worked too well. They said it would not create a single job; now they are saying it is creating too many. The Leader of the Opposition said that the stimulus was not going to create a single job. Has there ever been a bigger own goal in public policy in the last 50 years than what the Leader of the Opposition said at the Press Club when he said stimulus would not create a single job? If anything demonstrates how clueless they are, if anything demonstrates the lack of judgment of the modern Liberal Party, it was that statement at the Press Club just prior to the budget this year. All the way through this term they have shirked the hard work. We know the job is not finished and, in the face of this dirty scare campaign which has no basis in fact, we are going to defend the national interest and support Australian jobs.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Treasurer will resume his seat. Has the Treasurer concluded? The Treasurer has concluded.