Mr HAYES (Fowler) (16:38): I thank the member for Dawson for his contribution. I think he does well as a star trekker and perhaps that is the standard of debate those opposite want to bring to this House. With respect to something as serious as the federal budget, no wonder he wants to be beamed up. Tonight is very serious. Tonight we are going to bring down a budget. Tonight it is very important for Australian people that this budget moves back into surplus. Madam Acting Deputy Speaker D'Ath, you know my electorate of Fowler. I have the most multicultural electorate in the whole of Australia. I also have a very disadvantaged electorate. My electorate is well and truly in the mortgage belt. The thing that matters to my constituents is putting downward pressure on interest rates, not watching Star Trek. Maybe they cannot afford to get the reruns put on their satellite systems, unlike the member for Dawson. Bringing the budget to surplus will put downward pressure on interest rates. It is all very well to be lectured by this mob opposite who presided over eight consecutive increases in interest rates. They were there and they saw the interest rates go through the roof. They were there when people in my electorate were losing their houses. This is the mob that presided over the mortgage stress in this country. They want to lecture us on fiscal discipline. Tonight's budget will also, in addition to going back into surplus, make landmark reforms, particularly in aged care. When we first came to power we were the first government in 12 years to increase the age pension and the disability support pension. They did not just not do it; they took a decision against their minister to not increase pensions over the 10-year period they were in government. So do not lecture us on looking after older Australians or on looking after Australians on disability pensions. We will bring the National Disability Insurance Scheme forward, which will be revolutionary. I am sure members opposite that represent people, as I do, with disabilities will know the significance of that. In electorates such as mine, people have been have been left behind with acute dental issues leading to health issues. This is very big and something those opposite had the opportunity to fix and never did. Mr Neumann: They abolished it. Mr HAYES: Good point. We will be bringing down the school kids bonus. That is going to be pretty significant. For parents in my electorate it will mean that twice a year they will get money when they need it most to pay for their kids' access to computer technology, school uniforms, books, pencils, papers, sports uniforms and football boots. That is something very important to any of us that represent families. Do not forget, this budget will also provide the vehicle by which the first paid maternity leave scheme will be introduced in this country. Ms O'Neill: It is about time. Mr HAYES: It is about time. This is not the Rolls-Royce model proposed that those opposite were going to use a discount out of the mining tax for. This will actually do something for people who need it most, families that need it now, and we are going to do it. So they can whinge and bleat as much as they like but the facts remain: we are presiding over a $1.4 trillion economy, an economy which is the envy of most of the developed world. It is also the economy that best withstood the challenges of the global financial crisis. Have you ever heard that mob opposite talk about the global financial crisis? Mr Neumann: Never! They slept through it. Mr HAYES: They did not actually sleep through it. That is being unjust to them. The alternate government over there, when the challenge of the global financial crisis hit, voted no to investing in our schools, they voted no to investing in social housing, and they voted no to investment in regional and local infrastructure. All those conservative councils that they represent got money from us, yet they voted no to it. This is the same mob that went to the last election with an $11-billion black hole. We get lectured by the member for Dawson about transparency. They made an effort on transparency. Firstly, they refused to use the Parliamentary Budget Office—an independent body—to scrutinise their costings. They appointed their own auditor. I guess at a stretch you could understand it. They gave the auditor such instructions that the auditor was found to be in gross breach of professional accounting standards. This is the mob that wants to lecture us on fiscal discipline. The people they get to oversee their costings could not come out and verify their costings without breaching professional accounting standards. The mob opposite also get on aeroplanes occasionally, fly around the world and give a few speeches. One time, not all that long back, the Leader of the Opposition was over in London. He was asked about the Australian economy. What did the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Abbott, say? He said: On the face of this comparative performance, Australia has serious bragging rights … Compared to most developed countries, our economic circumstances are enviable. He said that this year. These people want to jump up and down—fire and brimstone—and find holes in everything yet go overseas and speak the truth. Another person who has some economic credibility is the member for Wentworth. He has been around for some time and had a pretty senior role in some accounting firm, they tell me. What did the member for Wentworth say? He compared 'the current success and strength of our economy against the troubles of so many others'. I think he is pretty accurate. We should give credit where credit is due. He got that call right. When it comes to an economic debate, this mob are not in the game. They are the people who for over a decade presided over the failure to invest in Australian infrastructure. They might want to talk about the $20 billion surplus they had—and it is on the record, it is true—but they failed to invest in the economic infrastructure so necessary for this country. Mr Perrett: Bottlenecks everywhere! Mr Neumann: They didn't vote for the roads in Queensland! Mr HAYES: They presided over the establishment of bottlenecks. I am glad all those members from Queensland are here. They know how much was not put into Queensland. They failed to invest in economic, productive infrastructure. It is the same mob that when they had the chance at the Treasury benches ripped $1 billion out of public health. We are rebuilding that system. As a matter of fact, it was under the watch of the current Leader of the Opposition when he was health minister. He took $1 billion out of health. They also managed to strip almost $1 billion out of public and vocational education. They ensured that where they could they stripped money out of that. That is what went into their surplus. They failed to spend on those things that are so necessary to put our economy on a competitive footing for the future. We just got lectured to by the member for Dawson about the problems in Queensland after the flood. As I recall, it was this side of the House that decided it was a priority, a commitment that we should work for the restoration of flood damage in Queensland. Mr Perrett: Hear, hear! Mr HAYES: Who voted against it? Mr Perrett: The member for Forde. Mr Neumann: Who voted against it? All of you. Mr HAYES: All those people over there from Queensland, whose electorates were very much damaged, sat here on a party basis and voted against the efforts of the Australian Labor Party to rebuild Queensland. Those members have got to hang their heads in shame. It was only yesterday you had the International Monetary Fund coming out and paying credit to this government for bringing the budget back to surplus as quickly as we have. You have also got Standard and Poor's coming out and congratulating the government. One simple thing that those opposite should be able to understand is that this is also the first time in Australian history that all three rating agencies have given this country AAA status. It does not matter how far they want to go back, they cannot find that at any time they have occupied the Treasury benches, because it has only happened now. We will be working to deliver for working families. We will not be taking care of mining magnates who are seeking preselection for the Liberal Party; we will work to look after working families. (Time expired)