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

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to reports today that the Prime Minister is 'scraping off barnacles'. Which barnacle will the Prime Minister scrape off today? His disaster of a defence minister or his disaster of a GP tax?

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

I reckon what we need to lose is Barnacle Bill. Let's get rid of Barnacle Bill! What this government is doing is calmly and methodically addressing the problems that our nation faces. We are successfully addressing the problems that our nation faces. Economic security and national security are both being addressed by this government. The boats have stopped. The budget is coming back under control—no thanks to Barnacle Bill sitting opposite. They created the problem—this is the truth. The truth is that Labor gave us a debt and deficit disaster, a fiscal deterioration unprecedented in our history. They gave us a massive fiscal problem and, having created the problem, they are now trying to sabotage the solution. That is the truth. They are trying to sabotage the solution. They are the greatest fiscal vandals in Australia's history. That is a what they are. They are fiscal saboteurs. They are a menace to our country's future. That is exactly what Labor has demonstrated itself to be over the last 14 months. They were incompetent in government, and they are wreckers in opposition. The barnacle that most needs to be gotten rid of is Barnacle Bill sitting opposite.