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

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to last week's disastrous capital expenditure results for Australian businesses—down 11 per cent since the election. When will the Treasurer accept that his words and his actions have done real and lasting damage to confidence and investment in Australia?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order under standing order 100. There is no attempt in that question at all to ask a question. It is simply an assertion. It is quite impossible for the Treasurer to answer that question, and I would ask the shadow Treasurer to perhaps take the time to redraft it into a question rather than simply making assertions.

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

On the point of order, questions can go to the responsibility of the minister. The minister, as the Treasurer of the nation, is responsible for confidence and investment in the Australian economy.

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

The question is bordering on being almost unintelligible. However, I am going to let the question stand.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am happy to help the member for McMahon to try to understand what he just said. I make the point that since we have been in government we have seen, despite the iron ore price falling from $120 to around $54 a tonne, despite the headwinds out of the global economy, a government focused on implementing a plan that goes like this. The plan ensures that we start to live within our means, that as a nation we start to reduce our expenditure, that as a government we stop the waste, that as a government we get rid of the taxes that are going to be a handbrake on the Australian economy, like the carbon tax and the mining tax—which Labor wants to reintroduce—and that at the same time we show respect for taxpayers. Every dollar the government spends is a dollar that comes out of the pockets of hardworking Australians. We treat taxpayers' dollars with respect.

Ms O'Neil interjecting—

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

The member for Hotham has been warned!

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Therefore, when we introduce a budget, as we did last year and as we did this year, we laid down a plan that shows a credible path back to surplus.

Ms Owens interjecting—

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

The member for Parramatta is warned.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In doing so, we had to make some difficult decisions; there is no doubt about that. But ultimately, you would think, the people responsible for creating the mess would help us to try to fix it. And it was the Labor Party. They left us with government expenditure running at $133 million a day more than what we were collecting in revenue. So, every day we had to borrow $133 million just to pay our bills as a government. We have got it down to $96 million a day, but that is still way too much. So, we rely on the goodwill of the parliament to support our measures, which are aimed on one hand at strengthening the Australian economy and on the other of strengthening the government's own balance sheet so that we can prepare Australia for the future.

Now, the challenge for Labor is that they are opposing or blocking $58.6 billion of different initiatives, including $6½ billion of savings they themselves announced but now oppose. Can you believe that? They actually said, when they were last in government, 'Yes, the budget needs repair; here are measures that need to be implemented.' And when they went into opposition they used their numbers in the Senate to block us implementing their own initiatives to fix the budget. But I say to all the Australian people: we are determined to get Australia back to the point where it lives within its means. We are determined to create a stronger economy where people can get a job and have ambition for greater prosperity.