Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, thank you, Senator Cameron, it probably is about being hypocritical. What is the real view of the government? Is it seriously about wanting to have a balanced budget and not wanting to increase the debt ceiling; or is about, yes, we do want to increase the debt ceiling? If I am confused about this, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Australian public are really confused, because I have got to say that you were really effective in your debt and deficit message. You were, because you were out there every single day. Yet now, within weeks of taking government, with the single stroke of a pen in cabinet—poof!—you are going to increase the debt ceiling by $200 billion. Maybe that is reasonable, but what are the reasons?

I have heard coalition members go on about Australian households having to balance their budgets, how we have to be clear about how we are spending our money and how we just cannot go out and borrow big on the credit card, and yet now we see the government doing exactly the same thing. It is time to come clean. It is perfectly reasonable for the Labor Party and for the Australian public to be given very, very clear reasons as to why we need this increase. Unless we get an explanation as to why, we are going to continue to ask. That is the role of Labor, and we are acting in the interests of Australian voters to try to get to the bottom of this. Show us your reasons and we can have a proper discussion about this. But those reasons need to be presented in the parliament and you need to be open and transparent about them.