Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate congratulates the Treasurer (Mr Swan) on winning Euromoney's Finance Minister of the Year award for his stewardship, backed by measures negotiated in the Australian Senate, of the Australian economy through the global financial crisis.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no objection, leave is granted for no more than two minutes.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate. The coalition will not support this motion because we do not believe the award has any credibility. It is true that Mr    Swan has achieved a number of Australian records. He achieved four budget deficits in a row, including the biggest Australian budget deficit, of $54.8 billion, in 2009-10; a record $159 billion in accumulated deficits over the four years he has been Treasurer; 19 new or increased taxes to collect more than $45 billion in additional revenue; and a national record net debt, heading for $110 billion. He made a complete mess of the mining tax, becoming another Labor Treasurer causing a Prime Minister to lose his job. He has resisted tax reform like the plague. He had to be dragged kicking and screaming to a tax summit in October after he successfully had it downgraded to a forum.

That is the record Euromoney has recognised with its award. No wonder Peter Costello was never in the running; he was clearly unable to reach these low depths of achievement. Despite the Asian economic crisis, a one-in-100-year drought, Cyclone Larry, floods, 9-11, the Bali bombings, the war on terror and a massive tsunami in the region in 2004 and despite inheriting a massive budget deficit and record debt from the Keating government, Peter Costello was the Treasurer who delivered record budget surpluses, paid off $96 billion of Labor debt, delivered successive tax cuts, set up the Future Fund and left Australia debt free. He was the Treasurer who achieved genuine tax reform in the face of strident opposition from the Australian Labor Party and whose outstanding contribution bulletproofed Australia from the worst elements of the global economic downturn.

Euromoney never thought Peter Costello was worthy of its award, but Wayne Swan apparently is. Just look at Euromoney's track record for picking winners. In 2006 they gave Lehman Brothers the world's best investment bank award. In 2008 Lehman Brothers went bust. In 2006 Euromoney gave Bear Stearns the world's best risk managers award. In 2008 Bear Stearns went bust. Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Mr Swan. It is time for our current high-spending, high-taxing, big-debt and big-deficit Treasurer to move on before he has any chance to take Australia to the levels of debt reached across too much of the euro zone. (Time expired)

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Although I am not going to read it out, I advise all senators to read a most recent report from the Procedure Committee on these matters. It would help the conduct of business during this part of the day.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no objection, leave is granted for two minutes.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a small-minded, humourless and grim response that is. Whatever we might think about each other, on occasion there comes an international accolade. I do not think it does us any harm as a community of elected representatives to say, when that happens, 'congratulations' to the person involved. We learnt at school that if somebody gets an award you congratulate them. That is what this motion is about, and I think the opposition has failed to step up to an average, decent standard of behaviour towards a fellow politician—who, I might say, has been very humble in his response to that accolade and has passed it on as a tribute to the Australian people. The coalition should have been a little bit more positive on this occasion.

Question agreed to.