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

The threats to a fiscally responsible approach, whether it is on climate change or on the budget, lie among those opposite, because the reality is that those opposite are hard-wired to oppose regardless of the consequences for Australian pensioners and regardless of the consequences for the federal budget. It is interesting that Mr Abbott's fiscal recklessness is becoming so obvious that even his own team are starting to complain about it. We know that Senator Minchin himself has raised concerns in the party room, which have been reported publicly, about the importance of the opposition being fiscally responsible and the problems with Mr Abbott's response of opposing everything, including budget savings measures. There is also the coalition MP who said:

We can't keep agreeing with government spending measures and opposing savings … measures and keep our financial credibility intact.

(Time expired)