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

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. How can the Australian people trust the Deputy Prime Minister’s word when, on at least three separate occasions in the last 10 days, he pledged his loyalty to the member for Griffith, yet today he betrayed that loyalty?

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

Because yesterday I took a decision that I believed was in the national interest. Each and every one of us comes to this House to look after the national interest, to do the right thing and to make the calls as we see them. I did that yesterday and I did it for the very best of reasons. I did it for all of the reasons that the Prime Minister outlined before. I did it for all of those reasons because I believed it was in the national interest of this country—in the interests of the government and in the national interest.