Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I guess the question is: who is calling the shots in the Liberal Party? Is it the conservatives or the Prime Minister? I think we know from today's superannuation announcement that that has been confirmed: it is the conservatives. Just a few months ago, the Prime Minister told us that each and every one of the superannuation measures that those opposite took to the election was 'absolutely ironclad' and that he was committed to each and every element. But I think Mr Turnbull clearly failed to finish that sentence. Maybe he should have continued his sentence by saying, 'These measures are absolutely ironclad unless the conservatives within my party are displeased, in which case I will get direction from them about what they want to happen and I will endeavour to please them.' I think that is how he should have completed his answer to that question.

For weeks now, day after day, we have seen a slew of conservatives freelancing in the media or anonymously backgrounding against the government's own superannuation policy. Then today, remarkably, what do we see? We see the $500,000 lifetime non-concessional cap, the very issue that Mr Abbott and Mr Christensen were not-too-subtly campaigning on, disappear completely. It disappeared—just puff, gone. Clearly Mr Turnbull has shown that he would rather break a solemn election promise than displease his conservative masters. We have also seen Mr Christensen come out today and give a remarkable press conference for a backbencher, where he congratulated the Prime Minister for not only following orders but exceeding them. This is yet another example, amongst many other examples, of where the Prime Minister has fundamentally failed to deliver on his promise of strong economic leadership.

The budgetary position bears that out. In fact, the deficit was $2.6 billion bigger at this year's PEFO than it was at MYEFO in December. Our net debt had blown out by $7 billion in the same period. Prime Minister Turnbull has worsened the coalition's abysmal fiscal record, which has seen the deficit triple, net debt blow-out by well over $100 billion and the AAA credit rating put at risk. The AAA credit rating that Labor had in government is now at risk. The Labor Party have made it very clear that we are 100 per cent committed to budget repair. It was the Labor Party that secured Australia's AAA credit rating from all three credit rating agencies in the midst of the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. It is Labor that has worked to consistently identify a comprehensive set of savings measures that will deliver real structural benefits to the budget. It is Labor that has worked cooperatively with the entire parliament to deliver fair budget repair.

We have seen evidence of that just this week, where we have not only improved the government's omnibus bill and made it fairer but increased the savings that it made. While the government had a $107 million black hole in their sums for the bill, Labor negotiated changes that would not only remove rank unfairness—unfairness to those who can least afford it—but also return even more to the bottom line. While those opposite floundered and bickered amongst themselves, Labor consistently took the lead on economic reform and budget repair. While the Liberals seemingly could not to maintain a consistent fiscal policy from day to day, Labor worked tirelessly to build an extensive and comprehensive plan for fair budget repair.

And so it was with superannuation. We took the lead; we put forward fair reform that would return billions to the budget. But Mr Turnbull has floundered from policy to policy. He is being led by his conservative masters, to secure his own position as Prime Minister. That is the key for him. It is not about what is best for this country; it is about what is best for him. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.