Mr VAILE(1.18 p.m.) —As a member of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts in both this parliament and the previous parliament, it is indeed a pleasure to support the introduction of the Charter of Budget Honesty Bill 1996 in this House.

It is interesting to note that the previous speaker referred to the JCPA. It was, in fact, report No. 341 that recommended the establishment of fiscal responsibility legislation. Interestingly enough, that report was tabled back in 1995, when the Labor Party was still in government, so it was interesting to listen to the comments by the member for Batman (Mr Martin Ferguson) when he referred right back to 1983—some 14 years ago. The Labor Party have got very long memories when they want to, but not when they do not. The member for Batman was referring to the situation that the Labor Party inherited in 1983. The coalition, in the lead-up to the 1996 election, made a commitment to the Australian people that we would have a charter of budget honesty. It did not take very long for proof to come forward of the necessity for this charter of budget honesty. It was within weeks of the election that the coalition in government found out the parlous state of the economy which had been deliberately concealed by the Labor Party in the lead-up to that election campaign.

Going back to the member for Batman, listening to his address to the House this morning on this bill, I welcomed his support for the bill. But, if the Labor Party knew in 1983 of the need for the introduction of a charter of budget honesty or fiscal responsibility legislation, why didn't they act then? If the Labor Party knew of the need for fiscal responsibility legislation in 1995 when the then Public Accounts Committee recommended the introduction of such legislation, why didn't they act? If the Labor Party knew it was necessary to introduce this as a sign of faith with the Australian people, why didn't they go to the election in March 1996 with that on their platform? They did not, because they knew they could not. They knew they could not, because they knew the people of Australia would not believe anything the Labor Party had to say about honesty in public life. There is no way that the voting public of Australia would have believed any utterance of the then Prime Minister, Paul Keating, about government honesty because his track record was absolutely abysmal. His track record was absolutely abysmal as far as honesty was concerned.

In the almost 12 months since that election, I have not heard—I will stand corrected—one member of the Labor opposition defend the former Prime Minister on that point, because they know that the l-a-w tax cuts broken promise was the central plank in the loss of that election last year. They know that following the leadership of Paul Keating in the lead-up to the 1996 election was what cost them the election. But the coalition were able to communicate to the Australian people that we understood that the Australian people were sick and tired of the smoke and mirrors tricks of the Labor Party for the previous 13 years.

It is interesting to hear members of the Australian Labor Party debating this bill today and talking about honesty in government. For goodness sake, we had 13 years of Labor in this country, 13 years of Labor running up debt and deficit and trying to use sleight of hand tricks all the way down the line on the Australian people. The Labor Party treated the Australian people like fools and idiots. It treated them as though they had no understanding of the Australian economy. The Labor Party was in government for 13 years. The member for Batman knew about this situation, he alleges, in 1983. The JCPA reported in 1995. What action was there from the Labor Party? Absolutely none!

The coalition promised this legislation to the people of Australia during the election in March last year. The now Prime Minister (Mr Howard), then the Leader of the Opposition, made it quite clear in one of his early headland speeches. The recommendation was in report 341. It was part of the policy platform that we presented to the Australian people in the lead-up to the March election last year. Now here it is, being introduced.

All the Labor opposition can do is criticise elements of the budget that this government brought down in August last year. The members of the Labor Party do not talk about the principles or the philosophy behind the introduction of this legislation. They talk about the politics of the budget, a lot of which we were forced into because this sort of legislation was not in place last year and so we did not have access to the information. The now Leader of the Opposition (Mr Beazley) was challenged time and again to release the information, and yet he refused to do so.

It is very important that the Australian people note that, within 12 months of being elected to office, the Howard government is introducing the Charter of Budget Honesty Bill. This bill puts in place a legislative framework for the conduct and reporting of fiscal policy. It implements our election commitment to bring greater financial ac countability and transparency to the federal government. It opens the books of the nation to greater public scrutiny, which in turn will instil great public confidence in the financial management of government.

This bill will bring to an end the deceitful and dishonest electioneering we witnessed from Labor in the lead-up to the 1996 election, when it refused to disclose the true state of the nation's accounts. The explanatory memorandum for the Charter of Budget Honesty Bill states:

This Bill aims to produce better fiscal outcomes through introducing institutional arrangements to improve the formulation and reporting of fiscal policy.

It continues:

More specifically, the Bill requires that governments conduct fiscal policy in accordance with the number of principles of sound fiscal management.

. . . . . . . . .

. . . the Bill will require that governments provide regular fiscal and economic reports including:

.   a statement each year on their fiscal strategy and how that strategy accords with principles of sound fiscal management;

.   a report on the economic and fiscal outlook each year at the time of the budget;

.   a report updating the budget economic and fiscal outlook six months after the budget;

We have produced a 98-page report to the Australian people on the state of the budget, six months after the budget was introduced. Remember, the mid-term report of the last Labor government in this country was a three-page press release! That shows the disdain with which it treated the Australian people. The explanatory memorandum continues:

.   a report providing fiscal outcomes for the completed financial year . . . ;

.   a report every 5 years on the long term and intergenerational consequences of existing fiscal policy.

The long-term intergenerational consequences of fiscal policy is a very important point. The former Labor government had absolutely no regard for what it was leaving to the future generations of Australia by way of debt.

One of the messages that the coalition managed to get through to the Australian people in 1996 was what the then Prime Minister, Paul Keating, amongst other things, had done to the Australian economy and the legacy of his 20-plus years in federal politics.

In 1983—I return to that year because the member for Batman introduced it in his speech this afternoon—foreign debt was $23 billion. In 1984, it was $28 billion; in 1985, $51 billion; in 1986, $75 billion; in 1987, $83 billion; in 1988, $93 billion; in 1989, $100 billion; in 1990, $124 billion; in 1992, $180 billion; and at the time of the election it was nudging $200 billion, of which nigh on $100 billion was generated by the Commonwealth government.

The Prime Minister of the day, and during that process the Treasurer, said to the Australian people, `This is quite acceptable. The equity's there. Our country's worth it. If we've got to flog it off to pay our debts, we'll get good money for it. Don't worry about it, it's okay.' The then Treasurer and the then Prime Minister have left for greener pastures, but the debt still remains.

This government did not create the problem we are faced with, but this government has the backbone, the steel and the honesty to talk to the Australian people, to look them in the eye and say, `We will fix the debt. We will fix this problem that was created by Labor.' And we will. This is part of the straight talk that we are engaging in with the Australian people.

Everybody on the opposition side in this debate today has tried to explain away the $10 billion. The member for Batman talked about the deficit of 1983. It is now 14 years later. That is ancient history in this country. We are talking about what the Labor Party did for 13 years. If the Labor Party supposedly learnt its lesson in 1983, it did not learn it very well.

The Labor Party has done nothing but rack up debt and deficit for 13 years. It has not told the people of Australia about it. It has not told the people of Australia why it was doing it, where the money was being spent, what it proposed and what impact it was going to have on the people then and on future generations. The Labor Party refused to tell the Australian people. We are not going to sit in this chamber today and be lectured by the members of the Labor Party about honesty. They have absolutely no credibility in terms of political honesty. There is no doubt about that.

It is interesting to note an article that was written by Michelle Grattan about this particular issue in the Australian Financial Review on 30 January. It was headlined, `There's a price, but honesty will pay off.' There is no substitute for honesty, Mr Deputy Speaker. She said in her article:

The charter tears up the script . . . A new government will no longer be able to pretend post-election shock. One result should be to make politicians more accountable for their promises.

Part of the charter of budget honesty is a clear declaration of the exact circumstances of the accounts of this nation prior to election campaigns so that there will be no shock, horror, `We did not know it was like this!' There will be none of this stuff that we had in the lead-up to the election last year when the people of Australia and the coalition, the then opposition, pleaded with the government: `Give us the information; give us the real situation; tell us the real situation.'

Mr Martin —Like in 1983!

Mr VAILE —The now Leader of the Opposition (Mr Beazley) would not come good. The now Leader of the Opposition and also the member for Gellibrand (Mr Willis) would not give us the information.

Mr Martin —A conversion on the road to Kirribilli!

Mr VAILE —So all of a sudden we are faced with this $10 billion deficit, this blow-out in the budget, that we have had to turn around and try to repair. But the member for Cunningham (Mr Martin), who is leaving the chamber, should also admit that Labor learnt no lessons in 13 years. In 13 years, they did not learn the lesson. They dished that up year after year to the Australian people and again in 1996. We are going to change that because this legislation is going to get passed and it will bind future governments and future oppositions, regardless of their political persuasion, to be honest with the Australian people and to let the Australian people know.

As I say, this government has started to do this. There are 98 pages of information in that mid-year review. Last year's mid-year review was a three-page press release. Yet they come in here and lecture us about honesty in politics. It is outrageous. In conclusion, as the Treasurer (Mr Costello) stated in his second reading speech:

The Charter of Budget Honesty Bill 1996 represents a landmark development in the conduct of fiscal policy and reporting of fiscal outcomes. It is the kind of reform which, when enacted, will change: the way in which elections are conducted; the way in which policies are implemented; the way in which future generations are brought into consideration in economic decision making; and our economic policy for the better.

I am confident this bill will help restore the public's faith in politicians and governments as the financial managers of the Australian economy through the greater transparency and accountability that will flow from this charter of budget honesty.

I might just highlight to the House this afternoon that the people of Australia are prepared to give this government a go to sort out the problems that we inherited from the Labor Party. They are prepared to give us a go. They had the opportunity in the Lindsay by-election to give that indication last year and they did so in spades. The people of Australia have indicated what they want to do. They want to see this government get this nation's economic house in order. They want to know how it is going to be done, year in and year out, and the impact on their daily lives and the impact on the future generations of Australia. This bill will provide the framework to provide that information to the Australian people.