Now, it all starts with a strong economy and our plan for a stronger economy means getting government spending down and productivity up. That will take the pressure off interest rates and mean that taxes can come down. That means more money in the pockets of average Australians. So while we’ve been getting on with things, the Government has had the most chaotic start to the year that anyone can remember. There was the Andrew Wilkie betrayal, there was the duplicity over the Australia Day protest, there’s the continuing instability in their leadership. This is a bad government getting worse, a truly bad government getting worse.

 

Then of course there’s the institutional go-slow over Craig Thomson. Now, what we released yesterday shows that there has been collusion between the Government and elements of Fair Work Australia over the media management of this affair and that lends great weight to the claims of Kathy Jackson that there has been political interference in this vital inquiry. So what’ll be doing in Senate Estimates next week is trying to ensure that the Government comes clean, that the Government has to release all the details of all the contact between ministers, Prime Ministers and their offices and Fair Work Australia. It really is important, if we are going to get a good government in this country, that the Government come clean about what’s been going on here. As things stand it looks like a government of deception and dirty tricks.

 

Finally, the international economic situation is extremely fragile. We all know this is going to be a very tough year for Australia. That’s why it is absolutely the worst time to be introducing the world’s biggest carbon tax. The carbon tax is going to be bad for jobs, it’s going to be bad for families, it’s going to be shocking for confidence and that’s why the first task of an incoming Coalition government will be to get rid of this carbon tax.

 

 

[ends]