Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Marshall for his question. We on this side of the chamber do understand the importance of long-term economic reform and the importance of boosting productivity and participation. This is a party of economic reform. Labor oversaw the modernisation of the Australian economy. We floated the dollar, brought down tariffs and introduced a modern superannuation system—the last of which was opposed vehemently by the Liberal Party—and we have a plan to boost productivity and participation through our investments in human capital. We are strengthening our financial system, reforming our education system and reforming our telecommunications sector and we are committed to progressing further reforms today to meet the challenges of tomorrow—such as tax reform, a carbon price and doing more on superannuation.

Let us contrast this with those opposite. We have an opposition that does not know what its plan for the economy is, an opposition that does not know what its reform agenda is and it is an opposition that does not even know if it wants Mr Hockey to remain as shadow Treasurer. What the opposition do know, as we have already seen today in question time, is how to quote from the Australian. I wonder if they would be interested in commenting on a paragraph by Matthew Franklin in the Australian. He said:

Mr Hockey is in deep strife with his colleagues, who blame him for inviting Gillard’s attacks with loose comments about the need for government to use levers to prevent banks from increasing interest rates beyond increases made to the official rate by the Reserve Bank.

That was from the opposition’s journal of choice, their preferred reading before question time. It points out not only the many positions they have adopted but also their own internal strife. This is an opposition that is completely divided and unable to put forward anything positive. (Time expired)