Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Banking and Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

You obviously have not read the budget either, Senator McGauran. You are now a member of the Liberal Party so you go back and read the budget. So, critically, the budget contains no significant measures to substantially cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.

In conclusion, the overall description of the budget is that it is a clever political document. It has significant commitments and promises, particularly lump sums and tax changes, to groups in the community that have been ignored for a significant period of time and are deserving of assistance. It is a clever, cunning election budget. As we have seen time after time from the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, six months out from the election, opportunistically, if there is a political problem, you develop a clever, cunning set of packages and bring them in just before the election. (Time expired)