":Look, I'm happy to agree that the quote may not have been a turning point in the election (my POV is that it was, there is at least the timesonline article which agrees, but it obviously depends on who you ask, there is a lot of revisionism with such things). However, I do think that the quote is notable. The main evidence of this is Treasurer Swan's use of the word 'reckless' in the Laurie Oakes interview: 
 :TREASURER: Well, the most important thing we've got to do from a national level is to show some leadership by the national Government which is to get rid of reckless spending. That's why we said during the campaign, we would make savings of $10 billion and that's why we've set ourselves the objective of making further savings through this budget process. You see, we are seeing almost daily evidence of reckless spending from the former government. Only yesterday Mr Turnbull admitted that he increased a grant to a friend, five times, originally recommended to him at $2 million, and given to the recipient at $10 million. That era of reckless spending is over. We need a new era of fiscal discipline and that is what the Rudd Government is determined to put in place so we can play our role in tackling inflation and taking some of the pressure off the Reserve Bank.  
 :(emphasis mine). This was an interview after the election, it is clear that the quote informed their immediate post-election policy; it was not a throw-away line. Swann says getting rid of reckless spending is ""the most important thing"" they had to do. (Actually, this might also be worth including in the Wayne Swan article).    

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