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

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister told the Australian people before the election, 'It just isn't right that people should say one thing before an election to win votes and do the opposite after an election.' Did the Prime Minister deceive the Australian people in order to win votes at the last election?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question. There will be silence on my left so that we can hear the answer.

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

Members opposite, the Labor Party, will know everything that we have done and they will know all of the measures that we have taken to address the debt and deficit disaster that the Labor Party has left to this great nation of ours—they will know it all—at about 7.30 this evening. The Australian people will be able to make a judgement of us and the actions that we have taken to address the debt and deficit disaster that Labor has left us. But the Australian people know this: that no government can go on borrowing $1 billion every single month just to pay the interest on the borrowings. No government can go on doing that. That is the unsustainable situation that this opposition—formerly the government—left us.

I, every day in the election campaign, was open and upfront with the Australian people. I said exactly what we were going to do. What we are going to do is get the budget back under control. We are going to get the budget back under control; that is what we were elected to do. And we will not let the Australian people down.