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

I do not have a history of what the dollar was doing in 2005 and 2009 but I can hazard a guess that, given the post-float average, it was probably lower over the period than it has been recently. Instead of trying to make political capital about the structural changes in our economy occurring as a result of the high dollar, if Senator Joyce really cares about jobs he should be constructive, and I invite him to be so. However, those opposite are not interested in doing anything except try to gain political capital out of people who work in industries that are struggling in the face of a high dollar. I for one find it extraordinary that people could claim to represent the community but simply come in here and try to make political mileage out of the fact that our economy is changing—and it would change regardless of which party was in government—because of what is occurring globally and therefore here in Australia. It is not a case that this should be answered by a scare campaign.