Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-12 Daily Xml

Contents

State Budget

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:03): My question is directed to the leader. Does the leader agree with the statement made by Mr Koutsantonis in October 2013 when he said, 'When a politician tells you they can cut taxes and balance the budget without cutting services, they are either incompetent or lying.'?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:04): I have no idea what the context of that statement was. The Hon. Robert Lucas knows full well that he has a notorious reputation for coming into this place and misleading this place with inaccurate information, with work that is not well researched, with information that is taken out of context. We know the tricks that he plays in this place and I would firstly need to verify that the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis did, in fact, say those things and also look at the context in which they were said.