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

I have received a letter from the honourable member for McMahon proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Abbott Government’s unfair Budget damaging Australia’s economy.

I call upon those members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In recent days, the parliament and the people have been exposed to the spectacle—the undignified spectacle—of the Prime Minister ducking and weaving, denying promises that he made on camera, denying the implications of what he said, denying what he said to the Australian people and the firm commitments he made to the Australian people before the election. It is an undignified spectacle from the Prime Minister of Australia. He has had one defence against all of it; he says: 'Yes, but I am fixing the budget. I am doing all this to fix the budget. I know I said before the election that I wouldn't use the budget as an excuse to breach my promises, but I'm fixing the budget.' That is his alibi to the Australian people. That is his excuse for the breach of his commitments to the Australian people right across the board, including Australia's pensioners, Australia's families and Australia's Friends of the ABC and Save Our SBS. That is his alibi and excuse. But his alibi is a false one; his excuse is a feeble one, because, despite that excuse, he is not fixing the budget. Even by his own test, the budget is getting worse on his watch and on his Treasurer's watch.

It takes a special kind of talent to bring down a budget so unfair and so regressive and so rejected by the Australian people and the parliament! This is a budget which rips our social fabric as well as making our economy worse; that takes a special kind of talent from a very ordinary Treasurer! We have a Treasurer so driven by prejudice that he is prepared to bring in cuts which not only damage Australian families but also damage confidence in the Australian economy, damage the budget itself and damage business conditions right across the country. This is a Treasurer who is so determined to score political points that he is talking our economy down and using irresponsible language. The Treasurer of Australia is so determined to play politics that his words and deeds are a wrecking ball to confidence.

We have an unusual situation in Australia. Normally, it is the government talking the budget up and the government talking the economy up. That is the normal situation. In Australia, we have a Treasurer determined to talk the economy and the budget down, and an opposition responsibly pointing out the economic and budget fundamentals. That is how extreme and desperate this Treasurer is. The Treasurer talked the economy down in the lead-up to the budget, and we saw the impact immediately. When the Australian people actually saw the budget and the cuts their Treasurer had in mind, we saw the impact on our economy even more starkly.

We had the Treasurer and Prime Minister say there would be an adrenaline rush to the economy and consumer confidence just by their very election. Well, some adrenaline and some rush! We have seen consumer confidence fall 13 per cent since the election. The now Treasurer, the former shadow Treasurer, has had plenty to say about consumer confidence over the years. He issued a press release on 14 December 2011 in relation to a decline in consumer confidence entitled 'Consumers lose confidence in government'. He tweeted—he does like Twitter, our Treasurer, and he used to like it a little more. He used to consult it about public policy, about little matters like climate change! He did a cracker of a tweet on 14 May 2013! He tweeted:

This Budget delivers even more debt, deficits, taxes and broken promises from a Government that can't be trusted.

He's a clairvoyant! He saw his own budget coming 12 months in advance! I am often critical of our Treasurer, but he could see into the future on that particular occasion!

But make no mistake: the impact on the Australian economy and on consumer confidence is a direct result of his words and his deeds, and there are plenty of people who have made this point. In relation to the latest Westpac index of consumer sentiment in May, Westpac's chief economist, Bill Evans, commented:

The sharp fall in the Index is clearly indicating an unfavourable response to the recent Federal Budget.

That was one of the sharp declines in consumer confidence. When asked by Westpac in May what impact consumers expected the budget to have on their family finances over the next 12 months, 59.2 per cent considered that they would worsen—and they are right. What an impact that had on consumer confidence right across the country. In September, the budget still loomed large. It was delivered in May; in September, it still loomed large in relation to consumer confidence. On recall of major news items, the proportion of respondents recalling news items relating to budget and taxation issues was the second highest since the survey was introduced in the mid-1970s. Do you know when the highest one was, Madam Speaker? It was the one just before, under this Treasurer as well. He has the highest and the second highest on his watch. This is a direct result of his words and his deeds.

We hear a lot from this Treasurer and this government about how they are business friendly and they understand business, but there actions belie their words. The Australian Institute of Company Directors have called them out for what they are. They did a survey of directors across the country, with almost half the directors claiming the government's performance is impacting negatively on their business decisions. A majority of directors believe that the federal government's performance is negatively affecting consumer confidence—well, there is plenty of evidence for that. Around half of directors rate the government's performance in office as poor or very poor. It gets worse. Directors have become more pessimistic about the future, and an increasing number of them say the federal government does not understand business and does not understand their concerns. This is the impact of this so-called pro-business government and this pro-business Treasurer.

This has a direct impact on the budget bottom line. We are going to see a budget update in a couple of weeks. Remember when the previous government had to write down revenue? The Treasurer would get into full huff-and-puff mode. He would beat his chest like only he can. He would allege a scandal; he would allege incompetence; he would say that there was no revenue problem and that it would all be different under his watch. What do we get today when we ask, 'What will you do: will you blame revenue or blame Labor?' He is not a man for half measures, our Treasurer. He proudly proclaims, 'Both.' He is going to blame both. What a diminished figure this Treasurer is.

We will see the impact of his own actions and words in a couple of weeks in the budget update. We have already seen it in the figures. We have seen it in consumer confidence. We have seen it in the national performance of services survey. Seventy per cent of our economy is services and we have seen them contract for eight consecutive months. We saw in September the link made directly by that survey to the budget. The survey raised 'concerns about the weak state of the local economy and the effect of federal budget uncertainties'. That is a direct result of this Treasurer's incompetence, his lack of an economic strategy and his lack of an ability to convince the parliament or the people that his policies are fair—because they are not. His budget is fundamentally unfair and it is also wrong for the Australian economy.

We have a Treasurer who fundamentally misjudged the state of the economy in May, who thought that the economy could do with a dose of him talking it down, who thought that the economy could do with a dose of his harsh cuts and who thought that the economy could do with a dose of his rhetoric and his actions—and the economy is paying a price. Every Australian worker is paying a price. Australia's young people are paying a price, with youth unemployment the highest it has been since the now Prime Minister was minister for employment, with youth underutilisation at a record high in the labour market and with a youth unemployment crisis—and what is this government's response? To deliberately create an underclass by throwing people under 30 off the Newstart allowance. That is a shame when it comes to fairness and it is a shame when it comes to economic policy.

Is it any wonder that we see senior Liberals privately speculating in quite an extraordinary development, and perhaps senior Nationals as well, that the Treasurer might not make it to the next election? He might join that small and exclusive group of treasurers who are so incompetent that they cannot make a term. This Treasurer might be sacked by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Communications put in his place. This Treasurer is so incompetent that senior Liberals speculate that he will not make it because he is incompetent, because he misunderstands the economy, because his unfair policies are bad for Australian families, because he has created budget emergencies right across the country—

Mr Briggs interjecting—

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

It all sounds a bit disorderly to me! You will desist across the table.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

because he has created budget emergencies for Australia's states, because he has created a national budget emergency, because he is incompetent, because he is not up to the job, because he is a bad Treasurer, because he does not understand the Australian economy, because he does not understand the impact of his words and his actions and because his prejudice is so bad that he introduces unfair policies which not only are unfair but are bad and damaging to the economy, which is in his care. (Time expired)

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. During the last two minutes of the shadow Treasurer's contribution, the member for Mayo yelled out unparliamentary language and was not called to account by you, in the context in which today, in response to my question, you indicated that there was unruly behaviour in the House. I put it to you, Madam Speaker, that both sides need to be held to account, not just one side. That was an example of outrageous behaviour—

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

The member will resume his seat. The behaviour being complained of by you after today's performance is just so ironical that it is not worth passing comment on. What we saw were two men in this chamber shouting at each other.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

The member will resume his seat.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Aren't I entitled to raise a point of order?

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

Not if I anticipate that I know what it is.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, you're a genius then, Madam Speaker.

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

Indeed I may well be, compared to you.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You might allow me to make the point, Madam Speaker.

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

No, I am going to call the assistant minister and ask him: did he use unparliamentary language during the shouting match? If he did, he will withdraw.

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to put on the Hansard record that I do think you are a genius. I commend you on your 'giving tree'. I think it is very appropriate, and I would urge members to take the opportunity to make a donation and put an offering on that tree, which has an angel on top which I believe bears a resemblance to your face, Madam Speaker.

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

I don't think so!

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the fact that it is 25 November, one month out from Christmas, and with apologies to Clement Moore, I have a poem for the House. Labor is fixated with the night before the election, so here is my poem:

Twas the night before the election, when all through this House

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stocking was empty, the cupboard was bare,

Because Labor had governed for six years without care.

Indeed they had. That is why our nation is in such a mess.

The member for Gippsland pointed out to me that during his effort the member for McMahon's was talking about the Prime Minister using an alibi in that the budget was worse than expected. Yes, Member for Gippsland, the budget was worse than expected, but an alibi is only needed, as the member for Gippsland pointed out, when a crime has been committed. The only crime that has been committed was by the Labor Party, and that was over six long, shameful years when they took the electorate for granted, they took the nation for granted and they took the economic management of our country for granted.

On 12 May 2011, Wayne Swan, then the Treasurer, was caught out on morning radio, when he could not answer as to the last time a Labor government had produced a surplus. It was pointed out that it was 1989, which was before the member for Longman even saw the light of day—before he was born. The member for McMahon was sworn in as Treasurer on 27 June last year, after those rather forgettable years of mismanagement by Wayne Swan, the member for Lilley, and he served until the election. The deficit blew out from $18 billion to $30 billion in just a few weeks prior to the election.

Then when the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook was produced, the Treasurer, Joe Hockey, discovered to his horror that the deficit was, in fact, $48 billion, with cumulative deficits as far as the eye could see—$123 billion. We heard in question time today—it may not have been heard in this raucous end of the chamber—the member for Fraser calling out, 'What are you doing about the deficits, Joe?' Fair dinkum! Love a duck! Really and truly! The deficits were caused by that side.

Seeing as I am into quoting today, Aristotle said more than 400 years before Christ, 'To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.' I think that probably sums up to this country what the Leader of the Opposition, who is not fit to lead, is all about. On 12 November this year, a journalist asked him, 'What would you say to Vladimir Putin if you came across him at the G20?' Shorten said, 'Nothing.' The journalist asked, 'Just to clarify, you would not seek to talk to Mr Putin?' Shorten said, 'Not in the first instance.' Doesn't that sum up what the member for Maribyrnong offers to this nation, what he brings to this parliament and what he gives to the Australian public? Nothing. It is absolutely diddly-squat.

The contrast between the coalition's success after just 14 months in government and Labor's legacy after six years in office could not be more stark. Contrary to what those opposite would have you believe and contrary to what the red-faced member for McMahon was shouting across the dispatch box, we are cleaning up after Labor's debt and deficit legacy. We are investing for the future. We are getting on with the job of building a more prosperous nation for Australians.

Labor did not have the stomach for difficult choices. But we are getting on with the job. I bumped into the Minister for Immigration the other day in the airport. He told me that we have closed nine detention centres. The member for Rankin might laugh, but we have closed nine detention centres. Most of the unauthorised arrivals in those detention centres came when the member for McMahon was doing the job or trying to do the job or, indeed, failing dismally at the job of being the immigration minister. Labor's policies allowed in 55,000 people—half of whom came under the member for McMahon's watch—who we then had to deal with and process. Each and every one of them cost taxpayers $170,000.

Labor put more beds in detention centres than they put into hospitals in Australia, which is absolutely shameful. If we had not had to spend money on those sorts of programs, maybe the ABC would not had to undergo the savings that it is now and would not have to undergo a saving of less than one per cent per year for five years of their $5,500 million budget. The choices are quite stark. You either get Labor again at the next election and they will bring back the carbon tax, a revised version of the mining tax and the illegal arrivals, or you stick with the government of the day, the coalition, who are building the roads, stopping the boats, ending the waste and doing everything that we said that we would do.

Let's not get too caught up in an interview on SBS the night before the election. Let's not get too cute about what might have been said the night before the election. We are doing things because our economic situation, as left by Labor, is in a mess and we need to fix it up. The mums and dads out on the street expect us to do just that. They do not get too caught up with the big words and weaselly words of the member for McMahon, who is just doing a job advertisement to be the next opposition leader. Do not worry. He is not counting the numbers of the deficit. He should have been doing that when he was the Labor Treasurer for a few short weeks. He is doing the numbers on getting the job of opposition leader. Quite frankly, I feel a little bit sorry for the member for Maribyrnong. I feel sorry the him because he has not got the wholehearted support of those people behind him. Nor does he deserve to have it, because he knifed two Labor Prime Ministers—Rudd and Gillard. Let's not forget that.

But the fact is we have a Prime Minister who has the wholehearted support of the Liberal and National parties. That is what we are about. We are about solid, strong, secure government. That is what we are bringing to the Australian people. That is what we are bringing to make sure that the debt and deficit legacy of Labor is but a distant memory. We have removed the carbon tax, as we said we would. That is a $550 saving for the average family. We have removed the mining tax, as we said we would, so that we can create jobs and growth in the electorate of, for example, the member for Flynn, who I can see in here. I know the member for Dawson was absolutely elated when that mining tax was lifted.

Had it not been abolished, Labor's mining tax could have been expected to raise $668.5 million over the forward estimates. But the associated spending by Labor was expected to reach more than $17,000 million. How could they raise $668.5 million but forward spend $17 billion and then go and promise the regions all these sorts of things that they knew they were never going to have to deliver? Labor knew they were never going to be able to deliver them because they knew they were not going to be in government. They knew that they had mucked it up so badly in six long, disastrous years that change was needed. Indeed, on 7 September last year, change was accomplished.

Achieving efficiency savings across the Commonwealth and the ABC has to occur. We would all love to be able to fund the ABC to the level it has now. But under Labor there were 10 per cent efficiency cuts in defence. Did we hear the chest beating and hand wringing from the ALP on that? Did we hear that once? Not really. They just came in and cut defence. They pared it back to pre World War II levels, back to 1938. People in my electorate were absolutely outraged. I know how people in the electorate of the member for Gippsland—who is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence and doing a damn fine job at it, too—were outraged about that. So let's not get too cute about a few cutbacks to organisations which need efficiency measures to be implemented. Let's not get too cute when their side actually cut back spending in defence by 10 per cent at a time when we were fighting a very deadly war in Afghanistan. Let's not get too cute about that. We have abolished the carbon tax. We are getting on with the job of building the roads of the 21st century. We are repairing the mess that Labor left. We are fixing up the budget so that we will, one day, get back in surplus.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Riverina, you are no poet laureate. You should stay away from the poetry and stick to the limericks. The one about the budget standing on the burning deck, as if all of your commitments are turning into ash and all of your promises about what you would do would go. The only thing I will give the Treasurer credit for is he is very effective at this one thing: he will tell you something with such bluff and bluster that in six months time you will be guaranteed he will walk away from it, guaranteed that he will crab walk away from the commitment he made. Because, remember earlier in January 2013—

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let's talk about Swanny's surplus.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and thank you member for Barker for walking straight into it. Because earlier, in January 2013, I remember the shadow Treasurer, now Treasurer, telling ABC AM, and I quote: 'Our commitment is emphatic. Based on the numbers published today, we will deliver a surplus in our first year and every year after that.' That is what he said last year. And guess what happened? He walked away from that.

The member for Mayo wants to refer to our time in government. You often hear from the coalition a reference to, 'But what about your time in government?' The thing is this: on the path to your office, on the path to election, you made it a virtue by saying that what you say you will do you will deliver. Those opposite said that, if they make a commitment, they will deliver it. But, every time they make a commitment, they cannot.

The other time when the Treasurer spoke with such confidence, such gusto that he would be able to achieve was in May 2013, when he said: 'I can promise that the coalition will deliver a better budget bottom line than Labor.' A better bottom line. Let's fast forward six months to their first MYEFO document. PEFO—independently established—said that the budget deficit will be $30 billion. What happened? By MYEFO it went to $47 billion for their first one. This was not a case of trying to blame the former government; there were active decisions that were made by those opposite that contributed to it: the $9 billion they gifted and handed over to the Reserve Bank; the $1.1 billion that they turned their back on in terms of profit shifting and the way you could have dealt with that. They turned their back on changing the way in which wealthy superannuants are taxed. Their active decisions deteriorated the budget. So when the Treasurer, in May 2013, said, 'I can promise that the coalition will deliver a better budget bottom line than Labor,' again, wait six months and it all turns to dust.

The Treasurer got a few good confidence figures in November 2013 and he suddenly went out and told everyone. He got a few good figures on consumer confidence and in November of last year said, 'Consumers have now started taking their wallets out of their pockets.' And guess what happened six months after that. After the consumers took their wallets out of their pockets, these people opposite took $6,000 out through their budget. A budget that ripped people off. It ripped off pensioners. It lifted fuel tax. It ripped off people who wanted to send their children to university. It imposed a GP tax. The consumers took their wallets out and then they got thugged by this government in their very first budget. And what happened as a result? Confidence tanked.

When you look at all of the figures, one after the other, the business sector cannot believe what they are seeing. What they are seeing now is people concerned about whether or not they will be able to spend, because the budget has ripped $6,000 out of families. At a time when the economy needs that confidence, it is not there. The only time you see confidence is from one person, and it is the Treasurer just before he is about to make another stuff-up; he will tell you one thing on one day, and in six month's time it will end and be departed from. Just like a Prime Minister who is simply incapable of telling the truth. You cannot trust a single commitment given by this government; they will walk away from it once they have the votes, and that is what people should remember.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The proposition before the House this afternoon is that apparently there is an unfair budget which is damaging Australia's economy. That is the proposition which has been put. Let us remember that what damaged the economy of Australia was six years of chaotic and incompetent management. Who can forget the rank incompetence of a Treasurer who stood up in May 2012 and said: 'The four years of surpluses I announce tonight are a powerful endorsement of the strength of our economy'? What about the ignominious failure to deliver? What was that a powerful indicator of? What that was a powerful indicator of was that panicky and inexperienced hands were at the economic wheel. This was a man who promised a surplus for 2012-13; he actually delivered an $18 billion deficit following deficits in the previous four years of $27 billion, $54 billion, $47 billion and $43 billion—and yet he expected the Australian people to believe that he would deliver a dramatic turnaround in one year. An indicator of rank incompetence and rank inexperience. What he did do was leave this country on a trajectory heading towards a massive government debt, had corrective action not been taken, of $667 billion by 2024 according to his own documents.

Who can forget some of the high points of the damage to Australia's economy that was done by the chaotic incompetence of the previous government? Who can forget the blow-out of $11 billion in border protection costs? Who can forget the blow-out of some $6 billion to $8 billion in the cost of school halls? Who can forget the pink batts program, which cost $2.8 billion and four lives, or the $900 stimulus cheques sent to 27,000 Australians overseas and 21,000 dead people? We ask who can forget? I will tell you who can forget that: it is the people on the other side of the chamber who are forgetting that. They have wilfully blinded their minds and they have closed their ears to the historical record. But the accuracy of the historical record is there. The Labor Party has the temerity to talk about an unfair budget; what could be more unfair than the generational inequity of loading a huge debt burden on successive generations because you are too weak and too incompetent to make the necessary decisions?

By contrast, what is boosting the economy is a well-structured budget that is part of an integrated economic strategy to back the private sector and to build prosperity. Let's look at some of the indicators: the ABS data released on 6 November this year is that jobs growth is 12,300 per month this year. That is more than double the 2013 average. In the ANZ's consumer confidence survey released on the 25th, consumer confidence is at 114.3—above the long-run average since 1990. The NAB's monthly business survey for October showed that confidence was up by 12 points, which is the biggest monthly gain since 1998. Those are the facts about how the economy is performing. It is doing that because what this government is doing is establishing the conditions for the private sector to prosper.

If there is one thing that the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government never understood, it was that the prosperity that generates the tax revenue—on which all of the incidences of a civilised society depend, such as health, education and aged-care—depends on the private sector. The Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government seemed to think that you could solve everything by pumping taxpayers' money into government owned ventures: $43 billion was pumped into the National Broadband Network company and $10 billion went into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

What were we left with? A series of deficits and a huge debt, which we are now steadily and credibly working to turn around. We have a steady and credible plan to reduce the budget deficit over four years. We are steadily doing what we said we would do. We have removed the carbon tax and the mining tax, as we said we would. We are putting in place the stimulus to get the private sector working and we are capturing business opportunities through the enormously important free-trade agreements in Korea, Japan and China. We are doing what we said we would do to stimulate the private sector. That is the way to generate prosperity, boost the economy and create more jobs. What could be fairer than that?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In February 2013, as the days of summer and cricket gave way to the days of autumn and football, the now Prime Minister stood up in Sydney and promised two things. The first thing he said was that if the coalition government was elected, there would be:

…an instantaneous adrenaline charge in our economy.

The other thing he said to CEDA on 15 February 2013 was that there would be an 'instantaneous surge of confidence' in the economy. Of course, the reality has been very different.

As the shadow Treasurer has said and as my other colleagues have said, the government has misread the economy. That has cost confidence. When you damage confidence, you damage growth and you damage jobs. If we cast our minds back to the time of the Prime Minister's speech, they were handing out this glossy pamphlet with Joe Hockey on the front with the blank look on his face and they were promising that the sun would shine and the birds would sing if they were elected. They said that confidence would be boosted, jobs would be boosted, the cost of living would come down and living standards would go up.

If we cast our minds to that period, we know that the reality has turned out very differently. When they try to justify it and when they try to explain all of their other broken promises on hospitals, schools, the ABC, the SBS, pensions and petrol—all of those broken promises—they say, 'Don't worry. We know we broke all of those promises, but judge us on our economic promises.' That is as if there is some sort of hierarchy of hypocrisy that the Australian people will let them get away with. They say, 'We have broken all of these other promises, but judge us on the economy.'

On the basis that you can choose opinion but you cannot choose facts, let's run through some of them. Our world ranking on living standards has gone from 8th to 14th in the world since the government was elected. The cost of living, as a result of their budget, is an extra $6,000 per year for an average family. The unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent on the day that the government was elected; it is now 6.2 per cent. There are 40,000 extra people looking for a job today than the day that the government was elected. When it comes to consumer confidence, it is down 13 per cent since the government was elected. Business confidence has gone down since the budget came out. When it comes to the budget, in the first mid-year update the Treasurer doubled the deficit.

We now have another mini-budget coming up. It is due in the next few weeks. Already, the excuses are mounting about this mini-budget coming up in a couple of weeks' time. Our front bench asked the Treasurer today to pick from a menu of excuses and he said, 'I will have all of them. I will have all of the excuses. I will have every excuse on the menu. Any excuse you want to pitch up to me, I am happy to rely on.' As the member for Wakefield said, it was like fish jumping into a boat. It was like we had hooked him by making him admit, two or three weeks earlier than he had hoped, that he is going to go for every single excuse. He is going to blame everyone else except himself, despite having been the Treasurer for the last 15 months.

I remember very well when the Treasurer was the shadow Treasurer he would always say, 'Well, you can't hide behind the iron ore price. You can't hide behind the global economy. You can't hide behind fluctuations in world prices for resources.' Already, we have seen with the sneaky little leaks to the gallery upstairs that that is exactly what he intends to do. The government promised that they would make the budget better. The budget in this mini-budget will be worse. They promised that they would fix the cost of living. If you ask families in my community and communities right around Australia, including communities represented by those opposite, they know that the budget makes the cost of living worse. The government said that they would be part of the solution when it came to the budget or cost of living and they have turned out to be part of the problem.

There is another little sneaky thing that people need to keep an eye out for. The member for Jagajaga and I have been discussing this. With all of these are cuts that are rightly held up in the Senate, the Treasurer—in his typically sneaky way—will try to claim them as savings and improvements to the budget bottom line when the mini-budget comes out. Is it any wonder that Laurie Oakes talks about Joe Hockey being like the Hindenburg?

There is a quote in the Laurie Oakes piece, and it says:

People criticised Joe for going on holidays to Fiji. Now some of us are sorry he came back.

I think that a lot of people on that side of the House over there, judging by their silence and judging by them pretending to read and all that sort of thing, agree with it. The fact is, it is beyond question: their misreading of this economy is costing this economy confidence, and when it is costing this economy confidence it is costing growth and jobs as well.

Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What an interesting MPI we have here today; the Abbott government is unfair and is damaging Australia's economy! Let us talk about an unfair budget. What is more unfair than a political party, that held office in this country for six years, that has basically stolen every last dollar and cent from my children and my future grandchildren. Going into the future, accumulated deficits of $123 million and debt owed by this country of $667,000 million. What is more unfair than that?

Doing what is right for our great country is not easy. It is not easy; in fact, it is tough. It takes courage, and it takes courageous people, and it takes a courageous political party. Doing what is right for your political party in the case of the ALP is always easy—just instil fear, promise the world to everyone and tell everyone that you are a friend. It is like the old Joh Bjelke-Petersen line: feed the chooks—just had out more money.

The question is, to all the smart alecs on the other side, who is paying for it? Who is paying for it? The member for Charlton over there stood in this place recently, talking about the fact that he wanted a future for his children while he was talking about the carbon tax. He wanted a tremendous future for his children. Why did he not actually make a similar speech as each and every budget was rolled out by his treasurers every single year when he accumulated a deficit? Why don't you tell your children about that?

This lot opposite, who held the Treasury benches for six years, had leaders that could not lead, treasurers that could not count, immigration ministers that could not say no and finally they had a foreign minister that could not find a pair of pyjamas that matched his ego. They stand for nothing. They have great bravado in this place, as we just heard a few moments ago, where they are hanging their hats, their coats, their jocks and their socks on the power of the Senate to stand in the way of a courageous government that is trying desperately to get this country's debt and deficit under control. Well, I have got news for you, and if you listen then you might learn something. The news is: you do not, even with your best friends the Greens, hold control of the Senate. I actually believe that the crossbench senators in the other place are more than honourable. They are certainly more honourable than you and the Greens, that is for sure. I think, deep down in my heart of hearts, that they too want to be courageous, that they too want to save their children and their grandchildren from the absolute cliff-face dilemma that this country is going to face through the next generation. I think, with all the honourable intentions that we can find, that we will find a way, together with the crossbenchers, to make a move forward.

We are a government that is serious about what is best for the country, not what is best for us. If we were doing what is best for us, we would be taking the easy road as you did for six years. After six years, this is the question I have for the Australian people. They gave a verdict on September 13 last year. The question is this: did they vote to give us the mandate to do the things we want purely because this lot over here were relationally dysfunctional, or was it because they were economically incompetent, or was it both? It was both. The Australian people installed a government to get debt and deficit under control. As I wrap up, I will tell you something for nothing: you can do a lot to instil fear into individuals and into individual groups and scare the daylights out of them, or you can do something for the nation and build a future. (Time expired)

Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As you well know, during the last Labor government we had a global financial crisis, and because of the expert financial management of that Labor government, what did we come out of the global financial crisis with? We had a AAA credit rating, one of the lowest net debts in the OECD and the 12th largest economy in the world. If you want to talk about debt, you compare the net debt that Australia had at the end of the global financial crisis with the OECD average. Everyone in this chamber knows that Labor's expert management during the global financial crisis saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. It is something we are very proud of because on this side of the chamber we actually care about jobs. We are not out there saying that the cuts to the ABC, the flagrant breach of promise by this government, is somehow not of any consequence, when one in 10 jobs in the ABC is going. We actually understand that every one of those people who are losing their jobs before Christmas is going to be devastated because we care about jobs, unlike this mob. What have they done?

What is the unemployment rate now? It is 6.2 per cent, seasonally adjusted. A 6.2 per cent unemployment rate because of the record of this government. When are you lot going to start taking responsibility? You are in government. Start taking some responsibly for the state of this nation and the state of its economy—6.2 per cent unemployment. Might I add that in my home state of Queensland, it is seven per cent, seasonally adjusted. It is an absolute disgrace. It is an absolute shame what Liberals and Nationals do to our economy and to our unemployment rate.

Why does this mob opposite, this government opposite, not care about the jobs for working Australians? Don't they understand that in a more equal economy, in an economy where people have dignity, they have work, not only is it good for the economy; it is good for the budget? I say on this point of jobs that one of the greatest problems with not having a job is that it makes it even harder to bear the cost of living. What has this government done for the cost of living?

Government Member:

A government member interjecting—

Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear someone over there interjecting about the carbon tax. I am so pleased that that is being interjected to me, because 59 per cent of households say that the repeal of the carbon tax has had absolutely no impact, no reduction, on their household expenses—no reduction whatsoever. But what is happening with the cost of living, what is happening in households, what is happening around the kitchen table is that one half of households say that they are cutting back on essential items. How is that for consumer confidence! How is that for the economy! Half of households are cutting back on non-essentials. What is an even greater shame than that is that one-third of households are cutting back on essentials. In fact, 15 per cent say that they have deliberately missed paying a bill by its due date, because of the cost of living pressures that are on their household at the moment. It is a crying shame.

It is about time that the Liberal-National government, the Abbott government, a year into their first term, started taking some responsibility for the consequences of their own actions. Stop pointing the finger at Labor. Stop pointing the finger at our side of the chamber. Stop being so obsessive about us and start taking some responsibility for what you have done. What is our economic legacy? The 12th biggest economy after the global financial crisis, hundreds of thousands jobs saved, AAA credit rating and one of the lowest net debts in the OECD is what our legacy is. What is your legacy going to be members opposite? Is it going to be tens of thousands more unemployed? There are 40,000 more people in employment queues since this rotten first Abbott budget. It is an atrocious record so far, and one of which this government ought to be ashamed.

What about consumer confidence? We know that this government's first rotten budget smashed consumer confidence. Consumer sentiment is down 13 per cent since the election. Unfortunately, it is what economists have come to expect of this government, with Westpac's chief economist saying in November: 'This is an unsurprising but still disappointing result.' They are not surprised that you lot are smashing consumer confidence; they are just very, very disappointed. It is a shocking first budget, it is an unfair budget and it is damaging the Australian economy—and you ought to be ashamed.

Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this MPI.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Go easy, Luke.

Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will be nice. What we have come to see in the last year is a number of great achievements. The carbon tax has been taken away; it is gone. Hence, Australian families are $550 a year better off. We have even had lower public transport fares and the lower cost of utilities—it is endless like that. From a Western Australian perspective, the mining tax has gone. And we are doing what we can to help out that sector as well. There is stopping the boats. This is an $11 billion saving as a result of having a border control system, a humanitarian intake that now depends on need, not on how much cash you have got—a compassionate approach at last.

In amongst all of that, we have made great steps forward with the free trade agreement with Japan and the free trade agreement with China. This is helping to build the economy and helping to concentrate on what can be achieved in the future so that we can go to our schools and talk about what great benefits are coming in the future. I think these are really good things. There are a lot of positive things to be said. There is the red and green tape reduction. There is over $2 billion at least a year in savings as a result of what this government has done. So there are lots of good stories to be told.

I guess one of the things that we still must approach is the fact that we have been left with a budget problem; there is no doubt about it. We have got to manage the budget. We have got to have this country living within its means. We cannot just increase the debt. I hear a young child up there in the gallery, and I do worry about the debt levels that are going to be left to the children of this country. I think it is the responsibility of this government and this nation to make the adjustments that we need right now so that this country can live within its means, so that we are not just shifting the debt to future generations. Children being born today will effectively have $25,000 or more in debt allocated to them, because what has happened in the past has to be fixed. I worry about the standard of living of people who are being born right now, unless we can get the budget under control. When I look across to the other side, I think the children of the future will remember who was responsible for that. In fact, I think in the future children will curse the day that Kevin Rudd was elected and then Julia Gillard, who followed him, and then Rudd again. They will curse the day that these people who could not manage an economy, who could not manage a budget, have shifted that debt to them. The people who will have to pay for the reckless spending in this country will rue the day that those opposite were elected, because they have to live with what that lot left them.

There are a lot of people in this parliament who are friends of groups. I believe that the friends of motoring are having a function and the friends of netball also have a function coming up soon. But there is also a group that is not bipartisan, and that is the friends of debt and deficit over there and they joined with their mates, the Greens—people who get in the way of responsible government and will not help this country and this government to make this country live within its means. They reach out to the Greens and they ask everyone, 'What's in it for you?' They reach out and try to get people to think only of themselves, and in that they are betraying the future generations of this country—the children of this country who will have to live with generations of problems, debt and a lower standard of living—because they will not help us get things back under control. It is an absolute disgrace, and they will be held accountable for it. The Australian people will remember who was responsible for this mess.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to join with my Labor colleagues in drawing the House's attention to the unfair nature of this government's budget and the absolute damage it is doing to the Australian economy. There is only one member opposite who has actually nailed this, but they are not actually present today and that was the member who, when this budget first came down, had the courage to call this budget what it is—

This stinking, rotting carcass around this government's neck.

It has been that since day 1 and they can't shake that smell—they can't get rid of it. They have shaken it every which way, but nothing helps.

It is the Australian public that knows exactly—they have your measure on what this budget is like. The people of Newcastle know full well what this budget is doing. There is so much evidence to show, contrary to the bluster from members opposite—the busting of business confidence, the plummeting of consumer confidence post-budget. This so-called adrenalin charge is astonishing—I mean: the battery ran out sometime ago; I don't know where it has gone; but it is just spluttering along at some terrible pace behind. For people in my electorate this budget is making it harder and harder to get a job. Since this budget came down there are more than 40,000 Australians who have joined the job queue—sending the unemployment rates to the highest level since 1997.

Mr Pasin interjecting—

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Barker.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since this budget came down in my electorate of Newcastle the unemployment rate has nearly doubled, moving from 4.7 to eight per cent. Thousands of people in my electorate have lost their jobs since this government was elected—workers at Arrium, the Hunter TAFE, WesTrac, Pacific National, QantasLink and Sandvik, just to name a few, have lost their jobs. What about this week, Mr Deputy Speaker, and the cuts that were never going to happen—the cuts to the ABC. Remember? Now we have the farcical situation where members opposite are lying about the lies. We have petitions from government members—

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The member is aware that that is unparliamentary and she is required to withdraw.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think you will note that on both sides that has been used quite frequently in the last few days and so it is not a point of order.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The cuts to the ABC which have been so devastating in my community of Newcastle—1233 Newcastle has lost more than a third of their staff this week. Members opposite, where were you when the Commission of Audit was coming down? Were you warning about these job losses from the ABC? Not a peep from members opposite! Where were you when the budget was being debated in this chamber? Were you worrying about jobs in regional Australia? There was not a peep—nothing from you guys whatsoever. These are real jobs in my community, and people are really hurting. There are people grieving for their work—

Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I was wondering if the member could clarify how much the Labor party intends to put back into the ABC budget.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Those opposite own their own budget and their own stinking, rotting carcass. They need to take a little bit of responsibility for what they are doing in government, because the people of Newcastle have their measure. They know what you are up to. In addition to the job losses at the ABC, workers in the shipbuilding industry at Forgacs still face an uncertain future, because this government could not bring themselves to bring forward some contracts for supply ships that might be tendered out to Australian manufacturers. No, oh no. Remember the lies we had? The lie about no capacity in Australia to build these ships—it was another lie. If this government continues down this current path and locks Forgacs and other shipbuilders will be out of multibillion contracts, then it is going to mean that everyone is out of work. (Time expired)

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think we all know who the rotting, stinking carcass belongs to. This topic for the MPI today takes me back to my university debating days. It would just be dreadful today if I had drawn the affirmative team and had to speak in support of this ridiculous topic. My team would be the losers for sure, hands down, just like Labor lost—lost control, lost sight, lost their way, lost the right to govern in September 2013. But today, Labor's matter of public importance is not difficult to oppose. Yes, they lost the plot as well.

We have heard it all today in this MPI, but it is worth repeating. Let's look at a few facts about Labor's 2007-2013 mess. Between 2008 and 2009, Labor delivered a deficit totalling $191 billion. Labor left accumulated deficits totalling $123 billion. If you say it quickly enough, it does not sound like a lot. Without intervention, the Australian budget would have been in deficit for 16 consecutive years—not just 'unfair', but incredibly irresponsible by those on the other side.

But we have intervened to stop the madness—the Abbott government's good fair budget management will recover the Australian economy. Let me say a little more on Labor. Labor presided over the fastest deterioration of our debt position in more than 50 years—since the Second World War. Labor introduced more than 20,000 new or amended bits of regulation, and that is new red tape; that is money and time down the drain; that hurts business; that is unfair and that damaged the economy. Without intervention, small business might just be down the gurgler, but we have intervened, chopping the tape, reviving business—that is the Abbott government's good fair budget management: rebuilding the economy, rebuilding confidence. We have our eye on the ball, our eye on the budget, our eye on the outcome to reduce Labor's appalling debt legacy and restore Australia's budget situation.

Let me turn to rural and regional matters. The National Farmers' Federation issued their scorecard on the Abbott government's recently announced FTA. The NFF have awarded the maximum five stars to dairy, beef, veal, sheepmeat and horticulture and four stars to wine—and I am very pleased for my member opposite. This means either major or outstanding improvements on Labor's dismal economic and budget legacy. The China FTA will create more jobs and opportunities by providing for Australia to invest in China in industries such as aged care, private hospitals, telecommunications, hospitality, travel agencies, construction and motor vehicle insurance. So those opposite can have their little outburst, but the facts speak very loudly. The Abbott government's fair and disciplined budgeting is rebuilding Australia's economy.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The discussion is now concluded.

Mr Brough interjecting—

I heard those comments and they were not complimentary to the occupant of the chair. You might like to withdraw them.

Mal Brough (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was no intention whatsoever of being offensive to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, so I very genuinely withdraw.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you.