Remarks To Coalition Policy Approval Committee, Parliament House, Canberra
Posted on Wednesday, 1 February 2012
E&OE……………………….……………………………………………………………
TONY ABBOTT:
Colleagues, we’ve had this speech from the Prime Minister today about the economy. Nothing about reducing debt, nothing about taking the cost of living pressure off families. She didn’t mention the $167 billion of accumulated deficits, nothing about the 19 new or increased taxes. Nothing at all about the carbon tax which will cost our economy $1 trillion in lost production over the next 40 years. So, we are getting on with the hard work, with the adult work of building a stronger economy and all we are getting is clichés and platitudes from the Prime Minister.
JOE HOCKEY:
This is a continuing meeting following on from all the other shadow expenditure review committee and policy committee meetings and you’re right, Tony – in the speech, there was no hope, there was no reward and there was no opportunity, and I found it rather amusing that the Prime Minister said that it was the best designed stimulus package in the world. Sending $900 cheques to dead people, burning down people’s homes with pink batts, faulty pink batts and a school halls programme that was shown to be…
TONY ABBOTT:
Rip off after rip off.
JOE HOCKEY:
Yeah, that’s right. It’s the ‘best designed package in the world’ and, if that’s her benchmark, Lord help us all into the future. The other point is, she keeps talking about interest rates and they keep using the cash rate from the Reserve Bank but the fact is the standard variable mortgage rate has on average been lower under the Coalition than it is under Labor. What people are actually paying is less under the Coalition interest rates, and for small business: 8.9 per cent average under the Coalition and under Labor 10.23 per cent. So, you know, it’s all about spin from Labor. We are here doing the hard yards and that’s what it’s about.
TONY ABBOTT:
And Andrew, look, you’ve been leading this process.
ANDREW ROBB:
I find it almost embarrassing really that the Prime Minister continues to lecture the Europeans when in four short years they’ve spent so much money that our structural deficit is twice as large as Germany’s, as a percentage of GDP, and 30 per cent worse than Italy’s. We’ve been put, the economy and families have been put in a really highly vulnerable position if commodity prices come off. This government has wasted the economic resilience that no debt and no deficits gave them four years ago.
[ends]