Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Even if it lasted for a thousand years and, fortunately, it will not. Quite frankly, the Labor Party know that the electoral cycle will turn—I say in about 12 to 18 months but the Labor Party probably think it might be 12 to 18 years. But they know that, whenever it is, it will be a coalition government which will have to pay back the profligacy of the Labor Party’s borrowing. I heard a ridiculous argument from Senator Collins to the effect that, like all Labor things: ‘Look, it’s not our fault; it’s someone else’s fault. Revenue has fallen and that’s why we’ve had to borrow money.’ We have had to borrow all of this money for useless projects, for cash splashes that have done nothing whatsoever for the economy.