Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

I have been burnt in the past when people have asserted that certain people have said things and, regrettably, I am not willing to take at face value what the honourable senator has said. This debate about paid parental leave and double dipping is well known in the community and we are in some tighter financial circumstances than we would otherwise like to be, courtesy of the legacy left to us by the ALP-Greens government, which saw a debt trajectory and a deficit trajectory and a debt burden never seen before in this country. That is what we are dealing with. We will continue to deal with it.

It is all well and easy for the Australian Labor Party, day after day, to come into this chamber and say, 'We would spend more here; we would spend more there; we would spend more everywhere else,' but what are their savings plans? Absolutely nil, and we would see the debt trajectory go up even further. (Time expired)