Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister tell the House the practical benefits for Australian families and businesses of a government keeping its commitments?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macarthur for his excellent question and I can inform him that, every day since the election, this government has been cleaning up Labor's mess by keeping our commitments. We are seeking to repeal the carbon tax because that is exactly what the people voted for—a repeal of the carbon tax—and because repealing the carbon tax will help every household in this country to be $550 a year better off. We are repealing the mining tax because that is what the people of Australia voted for and because repealing the mining tax will boost investment, it will boost jobs and it will be a $13 billion boost to the budget bottom line as well. We are attempting to reinstitute temporary protection visas because, again, that is what the people of Australia voted for and because reinstituting temporary protection visas will help clean up Labor's border protection mess. Never let it be forgotten that, under the members opposite, we had 55,000 illegal arrivals by boat, we had an $11 billion border protection budget blow-out and, tragically, we had more than a thousand deaths at sea.

So we are doing what the people voted for. But it does not matter what the people of Australia voted for; the members opposite are voting against it. They are voting against the carbon tax repeal. They are voting against the mining tax repeal. They are voting against temporary protection visas. But now they are even voting against measures that the former government announced—education measures that the former government announced. Not only are they trying to stop this government from keeping our commitments; they are trying to stop this government from keeping their own commitments. That is the craziness of the current Leader of the Opposition. Today he is out there attacking the government because school education performance declined between 2009 and 2012, as if that is our fault. As if that is our fault! So not only is the Leader of the Opposition in denial about the change of government; he is in denial that he was ever in government! He just does not get it. Don't mind what he says. When it comes to a vote, this Leader of the Opposition always votes for higher taxes and more boats.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Before the last election, the Prime Minister described the Greens as 'economic fringe dwellers'. Before the last election, the Treasurer said:

… if debt is the problem, more debt is not the answer.

So now will the Prime Minister rule out doing a deal with the 'economic fringe dwellers' to scrap the debt cap, or will the coalition say one thing before an election and do the exact opposite afterwards?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Bad as the Greens are, it was not the Greens who gave us the five biggest deficits in Australian history. It was the members opposite who gave as the five biggest deficits in Australia's history. And, yes, I agree that the Greens have been economic fringe dwellers. That just means members opposite are worse than the Greens when it comes to economic vandalism.