Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate interjects, but I can tell him that the Australian public have every right to be afraid, because those on the other side do not have the smarts. Have a look at them. They do not have the smarts to run a trillion-dollar economy. I am not the only one that has made that assessment; that was the assessment made in a report prepared for the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry—the Econtech report. So what does that independent arbiter say? If you elect Rudd, you will get the Rudd factor. They say that house prices will rise by three per cent if we abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission—and on a $300,000 house that is $10,000; interest rates will rise by 1.4 per cent; and 316 jobs will be lost if workplace reforms are rolled back. So the promise of those opposite—the promise of Mr Rudd’s alternative government—is to ensure that 316 jobs will be lost. And it is very difficult to pay off a mortgage if you do not have a job. So the message is very simple: Australia’s renters and homebuyers cannot trust Rudd.