Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline for the House the strength of investment underway in our economy?

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

I thank the member for Fremantle for that very positive question. I notice the laughter on the other side of the House, because they do not appreciate the importance of the investment pipeline in our country. Nor do they appreciate the importance of the strength of our economy. They have absolutely no idea how to manage a $1.5 trillion economy. This government put in place policies to avoid the global financial crisis and to avoid a global recession. The consequence of that is: something like 800,000 Australians are in employment because of the policies that this government has put in place.

What we have seen in our economy is the biggest investment pipeline in our nation's history.

I was talking before about the increase in investment. In our time in office, there has been $919 billion of private business investment. As I was saying before, the investment pipeline in terms of advanced resource projects has increased by $90 billion in the last year alone. Today we have seen environmental approval from the minister for the environment for the Alpha project, which could create up to 3,500 jobs in the mine's construction alone.

These are the facts. These are the cold, hard facts of investment in Australia, and that investment has been taking place in the full knowledge of a price on carbon and an MRRT. We know that the opposition is having a bit of trouble with the facts. We saw the Leader of the Opposition on 7.30 last night, and didn't that one just take the cake! It was the biggest train wreck since his last appearance, where he said you couldn't believe anything that he said; you would have to have it in writing. It was that bad. On 7.30 last night he was claiming that this project was not going ahead because of the carbon price. But when asked by the interviewer whether he had read the statement from BHP, the answer was no, he hadn't. Let's be very clear what BHP has said. This is what BHP has said:

As you know the tax environment for this particular project has not changed at all since we started working on it six or seven years ago.

That was bad enough, but what was really bad was the bold-faced porky he told at his press conference today, where he actually denied that he had said it—denied the very fact that he had not actually read this material. That was just a bold-faced lie at his press conference today.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will withdraw 'lie'.

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

I will withdraw. This is a bloke who spends all his time talking about honesty and the truth but he is out there lying every day. (Time expired)

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will withdraw.

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

I withdraw.

Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer has spoken about using facts and drawing on the experts. Will the Treasurer outline why this is important?

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

Our economy does walk tall in the world and one of the reasons it walks tall in the world is that we have put in place reforms for the long term, reforms which are based on facts, reforms which are based on evidence from experts. I noted before the refusal of the Leader of the Opposition to use facts and to listen to the experts. I will go through what he has ignored in recent times. He has ignored the Stern report, a report based on facts, a report which goes to the core of how we secure our future prosperity. He has ignored the Houston report on asylum seekers. He chooses to ignore that as well. And, of course, he chooses to ignore the report from experts—the Gonski report. The latest refusal has been to refuse to take any notice of what BHP is actually saying, because those on that side of the House would rather run a reckless scare campaign than face up to the facts.

The one thing we know he has not read is The Boy Who Cried Wolf. He certainly has not read that, because all the chickens are now coming home to roost. It just goes to show how unfit for office this Leader of the Opposition is.