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

I have to say that when it comes to trade and international permits what we see from the Liberal Party on this issue is the same as we saw from the Liberal Party in relation to the IMF: a new protectionist and xenophobic Liberal Party, ladies and gentlemen. Here they are, the party that used to be the party of free trade, the party that used to believe in lowest economic cost, the party that used to believe in institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. What are they like now? Perhaps the National Party. The Liberals have actually morphed into the National Party when it comes to national economic policy. Senator Birmingham comes in here and tries to ask a question based around budget impact, but really what he is saying is: 'We don't like international trading. We are going to have our leader go out and talk about shonks in Nigeria and drum up the xenophobia.' Speaking of which—