Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take it as a badge of honour to be called names by Senator Whish-Wilson. As I said, the Greens will do all in their power to stop the people of Australia from hearing the real debate. They try to shout you down—and you have done pretty well, Senator Whish-Wilson. Why do you shout people down? Because you cannot answer the question: what have you done to create employment? Never mind about unemployment benefits—Newstart—let's get everybody a job. As long as the Greens have any influence on Australian governance, you can be assured it will be their goal to shut Australia down and to stop any employment-creating activity.

I had a lot that I wanted to say on this, but I have been distracted by Senator Polley and Senator Whish-Wilson trying to shout me down. I will just say why we are in this difficult budget situation. The Greens and the Labor Party turned what the Howard government left—a $60 billion credit balance in the bank account—into something approaching $600 billion of deficit. Do that in your own household, Senator Whish-Wilson, and see what happens to you. Do that in your own business and see what happens to you. You will go broke and anyone that you might have employed will be thrown on the scrapheap. You cannot keep borrowing money in your business or in your home—and governments cannot do it either. The day of accounting eventually comes nigh and you have to start paying back your debts with interest. The Greens will never understand that. (Time expired)