John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

It becomes very difficult indeed, Senator Bernardi, and of course that was no more evident than in the contributions here this afternoon from the government members. Senator Watson raised a couple of issues that I think need to be addressed at the outset: firstly, about there being no rampant inflation. Unfortunately, Senator Watson, you did not define rampant but I might help you out: there were eight successive increases in inflation under your government when you were the government of the day. If that is not rampant, then give me a definition of ‘rampant’ later on and then we might have a discussion.

Inflation was definitely on the increase and back in 2004 you promised to keep it at record lows and that was never done. But when you were in government, if you had been faced with the same situation that we were faced with coming into government—inflation on the increase such as it is posing a real threat and a real danger to the wellbeing of ordinary working Australians—then I am sure you would not have taken the initiative early on in the piece like Mr Kevin Rudd, our Prime Minister. He identified that inflation was a real problem and that there needed to be an example set about freezing the wages of politicians in this place for 2008-09. It was not particularly popular, Senator Watson, but nonetheless, it was setting an example—