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

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. I refer the Acting Prime Minister to reports in today's Daily Telegraph that the foreign minister is about to challenge for the leadership of the government. Does the Acting Prime Minister agree with Senator Doug Cameron that the Murdoch press is a 'threat to democracy in this country'? Don't Australians deserve better than this divided and directionless government?

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

With all of the big issues that are around at the moment—we have a meltdown in the European economy, potentially; we have a very big and important discussion about resource rent taxation; we have huge challenges when it comes to skills; we have, or should have, a big economic debate—all those opposite can concentrate on is muckraking from a newspaper which has its own motives. I do not think anyone on our side of politics would be at all surprised by anything that was written about politics in the Daily Telegraph. They are running their own agenda; they have their own motives—and that is entirely a matter for them.

But we on this side of the House get on with dealing with the big issues that matter to Australia. That is what we are doing, and we are doing that in a way which is making sure that we strengthen the fundamentals of our economy, whilst those opposite simply mouth empty rhetoric—not a clue about policy or future directions in our country. We are getting on with the job of governing Australia for the future.