Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The government, as I said, stands by the MYEFO forecasts released on 5 November. We stand by them. Those opposite continue to try to ignore the commentary of their own leader from as recently as 1 October, when he said:

Now, everyone’s been expecting slower economic growth anyway this year, following on the events in the United States, the sub-prime crisis from last year, but as recently as March people felt—March, April—people felt the worst had passed. But it has got a lot worse and the events of the last few weeks would not have been predicted a few months ago.

Those opposite want to try and play a game where they say, ‘You don’t do anything; just sit there and do nothing,’ because what they are about is short-term political opportunism— (Time expired)