Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Evans, the Minister representing the Prime Minister. Can the minister report to the Senate on the progress of the important inflation-fighting measures contained in the budget?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Sterle for his question because it is an important one. The Rudd Labor government has delivered on (1) our promise to act on our election commitments, deliver them in full, and (2) the commitment of the Prime Minister to act as a fiscal conservative. The budget contained the tax cuts, the childcare benefits, the education rebate and the bonuses to pensioners and carers that we have committed to. We delivered on all those commitments to the Australian public but we also delivered to the Australian public the fiscal conservatism that we think is important in these troubling economic times. What we did was deliver a $22 billion surplus—a record high surplus. We did that because we wanted to use that setting to fight inflation and help put downward pressure on interest rates—not only to try and assist families with the direct tax measures but to ensure we did our bit to try and fight inflation and the prospect of further interest rate rises. That fiscal setting has been recognised throughout the economy by the market economists, the Reserve Bank and the OECD. All understand the importance of that surplus. All understand that the government did the right thing in seeking to maintain that surplus.

I cannot understand why the opposition seek to undermine that surplus and our efforts to fight inflation and assist families by putting downward pressure on interest rates. I do not know why they so lost the plot. Whatever reputation they had left after the election, at the very least they tried to cling to the fact that they had economically responsible management. But what we see now is: they have abandoned that too. They have acted as wanton economic vandals. They have tried to undermine the budget surplus that is vital to the economy, Australian families and people on fixed incomes. They have put at risk hundreds of millions of dollars to support that surplus. Their action puts at risk the whole budget strategy.

I do not understand what they are about. They are clearly lost. They are clearly out of touch with the Australian public. They defend people against taxes on luxury cars. They defend oil companies against taxes on condensate. They want to support those who buy luxury cars and the oil companies getting a windfall but they prevent us from increasing the Medicare levy surcharge, which would remove a tax slug on middle-income earners. They want to prevent taxes on luxury cars but they want to prevent us from providing tax relief to middle-income earners by changing the Medicare levy. Those are the sorts of priorities the opposition now have. These are priorities that show that the opposition are just out of touch. They are preventing us from delivering on the sort of economic management that we committed to and that will assist working Australian families and those on fixed incomes. It is vandalism at its worst.

All they have done is undermine the government’s capacity to fight inflation and put downward pressure on interest rates. We need this surplus and the opposition ought to allow us to deliver on our commitment and that surplus. If the opposition had any shred of responsibility, they would allow us to pass those budget bills before the Senate rises. We have still got time. Why don’t you let us pass the budget bills and not prevent us from implementing our strategies? (Time expired)