Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is well placed to deliver a budget surplus in 2013. But don't believe me; ask the independent organisations that regularly assess our economic performance. The International Monetary Fund last week gave our budget position a big tick. The OECD recently gave our budget a big tick. All three rating agencies deem us a triple-A rated economy. The opposition always talk about their economic credentials and the fact that they are better at delivering a surplus. So I thought to myself: 'How are they going to do this? How do the opposition claim that they are going to deliver a budget surplus? I'll do a bit of research. I'll go to the Liberal Party's website and look up their economic policy.' If you go to the Liberal Party's website and look up their economic policy, what do you find? You see the 2010 election policy on economics. It is still there. That is their policy: the 2010 election policy. Talk about living in the past. It makes for good reading. The first page says: 'The coalition's superior financial management will deliver an improved budget position over the forward estimates of $11.5 billion.' What actually happened? It was not an $11.5 billion budget surplus, it was an $11 billion budget deficit that they were going to deliver. Their costings came up many billions short.

There is an interesting little letter at the front of their budget costings from WHK Horwath. They are auditors. They state in that letter:

WHK Horwath has reviewed the complete set of recurrent and non-recurrent policy commitments and savings, and is satisfied that based on the assumptions provided, costed commitments and savings have been accurately prepared in all material respects.

What happened to these individuals, Messrs Patell and Kidd? They were hauled before the accounting and auditing standards body and asked to explain how they could sign off on these shoddy accounts. I take the point that Senator Mason raised earlier about shoddy accounting. The Liberal Party wrote the book on shoddy accounting. Do not believe me; it is there in writing, because their auditors were fined for professional standards breaches for signing off on these accounts. And they come in here and talk about their superior economic record.

Shoddy accounting must be a Liberal Party trait, because it has spread to New South Wales, where the current Liberal government have made a mockery of the New South Wales budget. They lost $1 billion—they lost $1,000 million in their budget. Instead of delivering a $337 million deficit, they are now delivering a $680 million surplus because they failed to account properly for this money. It has been described by the independent Auditor-General in New South Wales as 'totally unacceptable'. That is what an independent body said about Liberal Party economic management. They are cutting $1.7 billion from the education budget. Parents have been saying, 'Finally, some relief—maybe they could put that extra $1 billion that they lost back into education.' But no, no, no: the Liberal Party will not be putting that money back into education; they will be keeping it. It says everything about their approach to economic management.

Given the Liberal Party's approach to accounting in New South Wales and at a national level, given that we are going into the silly season of Christmas and given next year is an election year I thought I would give the people of Australia some advice, particularly those who live in Liberal Party electorates. For the public who are thinking about what they can get their local Liberal Party MP for Christmas, what would be a good gift to give to them? Can I suggest that the people of Australia give their Liberal Party MPs a calculator—send one in the Christmas mail, because it is quite evident that Liberal Party MPs do not know how to add up.

New South Wales Treasurer, Mike Baird, decided he would calculate the budget using his fingers and toes, and look what occurred there. So maybe the people of New South Wales who live in Liberal Party seats could buy a calculator as a Christmas present for their Liberal Party MPs. Hopefully, they will be able to calculate in an election year their election costings. (Time expired)