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

The Prime Minister, I think, made it clear that she was prepared to continue to support the IMF, as Australia has always done. A bipartisan approach to support the work of the IMF has been important for the global economy. The Prime Minister indicated that she would continue to be open to supporting the IMF but had not agreed to any specific amount of extra funding and that would be a question that would be considered at the G20. This is not money to support the European bailout, but we do make it very clear that we understand—despite the strength of the Australian economy, despite the record mining investment, despite the fact that we have among the lowest unemployment rates in the industrialised world—that we are part of a global community, that the events occurring overseas do impact on us, that the instability in the European economies is an issue for Australia. We made it very clear, though, that Europe have got to get their house in order. They have got to clean up their problems, and we have encouraged them strongly to take action. I think we have been very strong in our statements and our representations to make sure they do that. We are not putting money into the European rescue fund, but we are supporting the IMF. We are supporting the important role that they play, and I would hope the opposition continue to have a commitment to the IMF, as they used to when they were economically responsible. (Time expired)