Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in response to some of the claims that have been made in the chamber today. It is interesting that once again those opposite have a selective memory when they talk about transparency. We ought to at least go back in history and get some facts on the table. They talk about 1996 and what they did when they came into government. Let’s remind people of the transparency that was lacking when we had the children overboard issue. There was certainly no transparency there. There was no transparency when the former government attacked working Australians with Work Choices. There was certainly little transparency and little action when it came to the 12 interest rate rises that the working families of this country experienced under the last government.

The Rudd Labor government is responding to what is clearly the worst economic disaster that we have faced in our lifetimes, and we are acting with responsible policies. The position that the Rudd Labor government is taking is one that is very clear—that is, to protect the Australian economy. The package that was announced and put forward yesterday has been very well received by those people that are going to most benefit from this it.

Those opposite, under the leadership of John Howard and Peter Costello, failed over almost 12 years to deliver any significant benefits to pensioners in this country. They came forward with their political stunt of $30 a week, and now they want to claim all the credit for our policy! They neglected people such as age pensioners, disability pensioners, carers, war widows, veterans service pensioners, veterans income support supplement recipients, Department of Veterans’ Affairs gold card holders eligible for the senior concession allowance and aged singles and couples, all of whom will benefit from this policy.

Let’s be fair dinkum when we talk about this benefit, about transparency and about being a responsible government. There is no doubt that we in Australia have a very sound financial system. We give credit to the former government for the institutions that they established, but this crisis has been coming for a long time. In fact, it would be fair to say that it has been a decade in the making. We can all remember back to the dotcom boom, and unfortunately this is part of the bust process of the cycle that we are going through.

In terms of the way that this package has been received in the community, the community actually understand that a government has to look long term and that, when we are looking at reforming the pension, it has to be done in a constructive way and in a way that is going to take us forward over the coming decades. So we are making sure that our economy remains strong. Very important to that is what is happening in Asia. Obviously, we will feel some of the impacts of the global crisis that is confronting all of us.

In terms of leadership, the Rudd Labor government has shown the way and is showing that we are about creating a strong economy and ensuring that we are able to continue the growth in jobs. The injection of funds for first home buyers is going to be welcomed in our community. My office is already receiving emails and phone calls in relation to what that means to not only those people purchasing the homes but those in the building industry.

In announcing the packages that we have, we are addressing the needs of those that are most in need within our community. We are not about the stunts and political opportunism that we have seen demonstrated time and time again by those opposite. I have been through many campaigns, and I recall that in the last four election campaigns the Howard government’s mantra was spend, spend, spend—‘To win the next election let’s spend as much as we have to’. They were not looking long term at what was going to confront us. It was our good management out of this budget that has enabled us to secure a surplus to give us the security to get through the tough times. It is most unfortunate that those tough times have come far sooner than any of us would have wanted. (Time expired)