David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers given by Minister Wong. It is noted from time to time that, unfortunately, the Senate and senators are not adequately consulted by our brothers and sisters in the House of Representatives, and it does seem that this is one of those occasions when the opposition Senate team did not get the memo from their team in the House of Representatives. You may not be aware of this, Senator Humphries, but your party, the coalition, is presently embarked on a process of crab-walking away from its own commitment to a surplus. You say that we are fighting our past; I say that you are fighting your present. But, from the Labor Party's point of view, no matter how hard any day gets we know we always have Joe Hockey working hard for us. As you would be well aware—