Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. This is actually a very important point. This is a quite critical point for jobs, particularly in the steel industry. President Obama is seeking to support the steel industry in the United States at the expense of the steel industry here in Australia by introducing protectionist policies in the United States. At the same time this government is looking at implementing a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which is going to impose additional costs on our exporters and which is going to make it more attractive for importers and which is going to make it more difficult for Australian manufacturers to export overseas. How does all of that fit together? How can this government think that it is not economically responsible to do some proper, thorough Treasury modelling into the economic impact of its proposed CPRS, particularly in the context of a changed world environment and in the context of some of the things that are happening overseas, particularly in the United States of America?

We have got this $42 billion cash splash. What is this going to do? It is going to end up with us having $111 billion worth of debt, for starters, and even up to $200 billion of debt, with a $9,500 debt for every Australian. This is absolute panic stuff, in the great tradition of the Labor Party. There is absolutely no doubt that this is Whitlamesque. I read comments by some commentators in the Australian who were critical of coalition members of parliament making that association. But let us reflect on that. Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister at a time of international economic turmoil. Kevin Rudd is Prime Minister at a time of international economic turmoil. Gough Whitlam thought he could spend his way out of trouble. Kevin Rudd thinks he can spend his way out of trouble. Gough Whitlam went to great lengths to borrow more and more money when he was getting into trouble because he could not keep up with it all. Kevin Rudd wants to borrow more and more money. Kevin Rudd wants to increase our bankcard to $200 billion—a staggering $200 billion. It is mind-boggling. Senators opposite are going to go down in the history of Australia as having been complicit in taking Australia into the largest debt ever in the history of the Commonwealth. In 20 years time people will look back at this chamber’s members and they will say, ‘What did those senators do? Why didn’t they do their job? Why didn’t they hold the government to account? Why didn’t they stop this from happening?’ We have on the other side senators who are not even prepared to stand up and talk about it. Do you know why? The government has told the senators on the other side not to participate in the debate, so they just shut up.