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

Thank you, Mr President. I am pleased to share with the Senate that a range of economists have provided very positive responses to the government's budget. The CommSec chief economist, UBS, the Commonwealth Bank chief economist and a whole range of economists recognise the importance of returning the budget to surplus. This is a government that is happy to engage with economists; this is a government that is happy to listen to economic advice. Of course, that does put us at odds with those opposite, who are led by a man who believes that economics is boring and now, most recently, has described Australian economists as 'a joke'. This is what Mr Abbott had to say last Friday. When confronted by the fact that his climate change policy is not supported by a single economist, he said:

Maybe that's a comment on the quality of our economists.

What a typical approach: shoot the messenger. The joke is the surplus-free zone opposite. That is where the joke resides. (Time expired.)