Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to get up, because one of the last words I think I heard come out of Senator Bernardi’s mouth was ‘fraud’. That is a very strong word for you lot on that side of the chamber to throw around. On a more serious note, I am happy to stand up and contribute to this debate. Before I do, I note that it is quite frustrating and annoying that those on the opposite side of this chamber and the other chamber are doing absolutely everything they can—crossing their fingers—in the hope that Australia does not come out of this global financial crisis, the worst financial crisis the world has seen since the 1930s. They are in absolute denial. The global financial crisis is all over every newspaper and every television station. It is not something you can hide, yet they have their heads in the sand.

The most important thing about the Rudd government’s stimulus packages and their spending was to save jobs. I know ‘jobs’ is a four-letter word that that lot over there have a problem with, but I am proud to be part of a government that will do whatever it can to save any amount of jobs it can for working men and women in this country. I really welcome the opportunity for one of that lot on the other side to interject on me now when I start talking about jobs—