Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

I reject the broken promise bit. Will Victorian families and, indeed, all Australians have to pay more at the petrol bowser? The answer is yes. The next question is: why? The reason we are doing this is to fix up the mess that Labor bequeathed us. If the Victorian people were to elect a Labor government next month they would be left in the same mess because Labor never learns the lesson of fiscal responsibility and economic responsibility. The Liberal and National parties are the parties of low tax. So we come to this with a very heavy heart. But we do understand the imperative of reducing the indebtedness of our nation. We are willing to tell the people that taxes need to be raised. You defer the taxes by borrowing and expect us to pay it back. We will. We will do the job. (Time expired)