John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am just amazed at Senator Conroy saying that the government has not acted on the Senate inquiry's recommendation. I recall back in 2009 when I launched an inquiry into liquidators and insolvency practitioners that there was a unanimous recommendation from the committee, then chaired by Labor senator Annette Hurley from South Australia. The previous government did absolutely nothing. Thank goodness we will be acting on those recommendations in, I believe, the very near future. For Senator Conroy to say that we should be acting on this specific recommendation of a Senate inquiry is so ironic having seen what those opposite did when they were in government.

It is just amazing how those opposite have little or no understanding of money and money management. The debt that we inherited at a growing rate—and this was reaffirmed here today in question time by Senator Brandis—was rising to a projected $667 billion. Mr President, you were probably around in this place at the time we heard that there was going to be a budget surplus under the previous government. The then Treasurer, Mr Wayne Swan, was going to deliver a surplus. The last time we saw a surplus from a Labor government was in 1989 when Senator Dastyari was just six years old. I have raised that before in this chamber.