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Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Page: 4314

Budget

Mr HOCKEY (North Sydney) (14:36): My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to the Treasurer's last answer where he confirmed that he was told of the increase in royalties in the Western Australian budget the following day and I ask the Treasurer how he reconciles that statement with his statement two days later to the Australian people:

… Mr Barnett did not communicate that he was going to do this to us … what Mr Barnett has done here is just very strange. He didn't communicate with us about this move in this budget. He didn't get our tick. He didn't discuss it with us. And Mr Barnett I think is simply playing a political game.

Treasurer, do you still stand by your words?

Mr SWAN (Lilley—Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer) (14:37): This is very sloppy, Joe.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer will refer to members by their parliamentary titles.

Mr SWAN: I quote from the West Australian—

Mr Hockey: Answer the question!

Mr SWAN: It absolutely answers the question. On 21 October 2010, the West Australian, in an article by Shane Wright, quoted the Western Australian Premier, who said:

The State has no intention of increasing royalties—

Mr Hockey: Answer the question!

Mr SWAN: I am going to work my way through it. The quote was:

The State has no intention of increasing royalties, but we will certainly reserve the right to do so.

That was October. You came into the House before and quoted from an executive minute. The executive minute that you quoted from only says Western Australia were considering an increase; it does not say they were doing an increase, and they did not do an increase in the budget before last. We were informed at the last minute that they had taken that decision. We were not consulted about this decision and we were not given any time to consider it. We were not given any time to respond. We were informed after the budget papers went to bed. That is the situation. Why are those on the other side of the House so antsy about all of this? I can tell you why: it is because they are so embarrassed about their position on mining taxation. When a Labor government takes the decision they think that the mining companies pay too much tax, but when a Liberal government takes a decision to increase a royalty that is terrific. That just shows the rank hypocrisy of those opposite.

Mr Hockey: A point of order, Mr Speaker, and again it goes to relevance: I ask the Treasurer to answer the question he was asked—does he stand by his words?

The SPEAKER: For the first minute and a half the Treasurer was directly relating his comments to the question. He has strayed into debate over the last 15 to 20 seconds. I remind the Treasurer that he should relate his material directly to the question. He should be heard in silence.

Mr SWAN: What I said was that we did not give it the tick. You just quoted the full quote yourself in your question—another own goal from those opposite! That is two in a row: Colin Barnett and Joe Hockey. They have both had very bad weeks. In the case of the Western Australian Premier, you can see how. He has brought down a budget based on dodgy figures. He has framed his budget around an exchange rate of 98c next year, when the Reserve Bank and the government are using $1.07.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer is straying.

Mr SWAN: Do you know what that means? His revenue estimates are out over the forward estimates by hundreds of millions of dollars, and that is what this is all about.