Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Siewert's points are very well made, but if we had been in government we would have a different fiscal starting point today. We would have managed the budget in the previous years very differently. This government seems to have the worst luck of any government I have known. Every year there is always some bad luck. I do not accept the government's justification for why the budget is in the state that it is in, but nevertheless we have to accept the current state of the budget as a reality to be dealt with. Again, reluctantly, we indicate that we will not be supporting the Greens amendment.