Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would allege that Senator Brandis acts like a spoilt little two-year-old a lot of the time, constantly seeking attention and not really being interested in what anybody else has to say—his way is the only way. I think it is fairly childish. It is a bit like a whiny little child, trying to get attention from their parents so that they can win one on their siblings. It would be laughable if it were not so sad.

I would also suggest that the opposition know nothing about the national interest. They know nothing about integrity. We hear Mr Abbott saying, 'You can't believe anything unless it's written down.' I laugh at that one; I still remember that one. How can we take seriously questions about integrity from an opposition that fabricate myths? I will not say 'lies', because I do not think that is a very nice word, but they do fabricate great myths about the government's policies, the government's achievements and the economy and science—and they dare to talk to us about integrity! You want to know about national interest? I will tell you about the national interest. The global financial crisis was the greatest economic shock to hit our economy in three-quarters of a century. While the banks collapsed around the world and unemployment rates in wealthy advanced nations hit double digits, Australia survived relatively unscathed. The Labor government bullet-proofed the Australian economy and kept it out of recession during the worst economic downturn in three-quarters of a century. The most affluent nations across the world are all suffering under levels of debt that are many, many times greater per capita than in Australia. The debt of the United States of America is currently over $14 trillion—that is, around $50,000 for every American man, woman and child. Similarly in the United Kingdom, where I note Mr Abbott is currently visiting his pal Prime Minister David Cameron, public debt is around one trillion pounds. Public debt in Australia is a tiny fraction of that amount. Thanks to this government, our economy's fundamentals have remained strong with outstanding employment growth, a record investment pipeline and a budget position that is the envy of our peers. We have created 750,000 jobs since we were first elected and 120,400 more Australians are employed today than 12 months ago. I think that is in the national interest.

I was reading a quote the other day from the world-leading economist, Joseph Stiglitz. When he was asked about debt in Australia, he replied:

For an American it's totally befuddling. The fact is, your deficit, your debt is very low.

Senator Brandis interjecting—

He continued with this, Senator Brandis:

For me, what I find so ironical, is you have the same people saying we need to worry about the deficit and saying but by the way we shouldn't get the full value of our resources for our future children. It doesn't make any sense to me.

Who are those people he was referring to? It is those people opposite. They do not make any sense. They say that putting a price on carbon is not in the national interest, but we have to remember that the Prime Minister of the UK disagrees, and I hope that Mr Abbott listens to him while he is over there. Prime Minister Cameron has come out overwhelmingly in pricing carbon. He said recently:

We have put a carbon floor price in through our budget and I think other countries are looking at this. If you want to get control of global emissions, if you want to deal with this issue, then the market is an effective way of doing that. It's often not enough on its own.

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