Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question without notice is to Senator Minchin, Minister for Finance and Administration. Does he recall proclaiming in May that he was ‘custodian’ of taxpayers’ money whose job it was to ensure that money was spent ‘wisely’? What sort of custodian is a minister who does not ask to cost the $10 billion water package? What sort of custodian is a minister who was not told that the cost of the Northern Territory intervention has grown from tens of millions of dollars to $587 million a year? What sort of custodian is a minister who is not consulted about a state hospital takeover the cost of which could blow out to something like $100 million a year? Far from being a wise custodian of taxpayers’ money, has not the minister failed to protect taxpayers’ money from a desperate Prime Minister who is willing to do anything, say anything and promise anything to cling to power?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I may not be the world’s best finance minister, but I am proud of the role I have played in the last six years in ensuring that this is one of the very few countries in the Western world that is debt free, one of the very few countries in the Western world operating in surplus, quite unlike the state Labor governments which are now all, but for the case of Western Australia, going into deficit. If you want to see mismanagement of taxpayers’ funds, have a look at what the last two federal Labor governments did in destroying the fiscal position of the Commonwealth; have a look at what state Labor governments did in the late eighties and early nineties. It destroyed the state of South Australia, my own state, as well as Victoria and Western Australia. And now we are about to see it all over again, despite the fact that the economy has been growing for 16 years and is incredibly strong and that the states now have the advantage, as a result of our reforms, opposed by the Labor Party, of the growth tax which they have always wanted: the goods and services tax.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, come to order!

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These people cannot keep their budgets in surplus. It is absolutely amazing. If you cannot run surpluses in the circumstances Australia is now in, you will never be able to run surpluses, and that is what we find with seven of the eight state and territory Labor governments around this country.

I am proud that, despite the opposition of the Labor Party throughout our period in government to return fiscal rectitude to the Commonwealth, we have one of the best records in the Western world in our budgetary position. I would also just add to that, while Senator Carr and others take issue with this: what is the federal Labor Party talking about? In relation to just about all of the spending commitments which we have made, they say: ‘Me too. Oh yes, we’re in there; we want to spend that too. No worries, we’re right alongside you,’ but they have a whole lot of promises on top of that. That is where the Financial Review today is quite misleading in its suggestion about our spending, because it has not allowed for the fact that the Labor Party want to spend virtually all that we are proposing, plus some. Whenever Mr Rudd is faced with a policy issue, he throws a $500 million fund at it: ‘There’s a housing affordability crisis; let’s have a $500 million fund. We should have green cars; let’s have a $500 million hybrid car fund. It would be nice to have clean coal; let’s have a $500 million clean coal fund.’ That is three $500 million funds and we have not even got to the start of the campaign. So do not lecture us about fiscal rectitude.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. What guarantee can the self-proclaimed ‘wise custodian’ of taxpayers’ money give that he will not continue to be sidelined in the lead-up to the election? Why should taxpayers have to put up with a Prime Minister who is in a ‘do anything, say anything and promise anything’ mode and throws their money at marginal seats in his desperation to cling to power?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That question might have more veracity if the Labor Party would indeed come out and declare that it will have its policies costed by Treasury and Finance, as allowed for under our Charter of Budget Honesty. The coalition will be having its policies costed by Treasury and Finance, but I will bet that the Labor Party are not game to have their policies costed by Treasury and Finance. If you are so concerned about the cost of promises, let us see you come out and declare that you will have your policies costed by Treasury and Finance.