Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald corrects me; each time we look at it, it goes up. That is why it is so vitally important that this legislation not be rushed. I simply remind the Greens and the minors in this place that they, in their rush to assist the government in relation to the so-called stimulus package, share the responsibility of the house fires in the pink batts debacle. They share the responsibility for the Building the Education Revolution debacle. They share the responsibility for the green loans scandal. And they will share the responsibility for the huge burden, at over $2,000 per man, woman and child, that is being placed on the shoulders of not only this generation but the next generation as well. That is why we say it is wise for us not to proceed in an inappropriate, indecent, hasty manner because they should have learnt the lesson of pink batts, BER, green loans—and the list goes on. But, no, they are willing to airbrush all that from their memory and say, ‘Sure, we have mucked up three or four times; let’s do it again, but with a lot bigger sum of money’—$43-thousand-million or, indeed, $50-thousand-million.

The summary of the business plan that we were given will be ventilated in an extensive manner by the coalition at least. To my friend Senator Xenophon, who put out a press release saying ‘Government agrees to publicly release full NBN summary’, I say that that is like saying, ‘I’ve got a full half glass of water.’ With great respect, this is accepting and adopting government spin, which is not good enough when you are dealing with a $43-thousand-million or $53-thousand-million project. As a result we will be opposing the motion.