Kerry Bartlett (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a desperate attempt by the Labor Party to try to get traction on the economy to somehow convince people of Labor’s economic credentials, to somehow try to convince them that black is white and that Labor have something worth saying on the economy. It is interesting, judging by the small handful of people sitting there behind the Leader of the Opposition, how even the Labor Party themselves do not believe this. This attempt to cut through on the economy is failing because the Leader of the Opposition has form. It is failing because Labor’s miserable record speaks a lot louder than the Leader of the Opposition’s spin on this.

Let me come to the specifics on interest rates. Interest rates are still at historical lows. At 7.8 per cent, they are 4.95 per cent lower than the 12.75 per cent we had under Labor. During the 13 years of hard times under Labor, interest rates averaged 12¾ per cent. Let us put aside the massive 17 per cent there: right through the 13 years, they averaged 12.75 per cent. Now, they are 4.95 per cent lower than that. This means that someone with a mortgage of $200,000 would be paying $9,900 a year more, or $825 a month more, if we had Labor’s average rate of interest applying now. The fact is that people with mortgages are substantially better off now, because interest rates are at historical lows and they are still 4.95 per cent lower than the average that occurred during Labor’s years.

We are hearing this spin from the other side about bigger mortgages so they will hurt more. Yes, mortgages are bigger. But people’s houses are worth a lot more than they were before. Everyone knows that house prices rise almost inexorably over time because of the growing demand for houses and because of the limited land releases from the state government—and because, in the case of New South Wales, exorbitant taxes on land. Those land prices and those housing prices continue to rise generally, apart from some fluctuations, over time.

I do not know if the member for Brand is trying to say that he could do something about that. I do not know if the Leader of the Opposition is pretending that it would be good to get people’s asset prices down again. If we asked most people around this country if they would rather have a house worth $500,000 and be paying 7.8 per cent interest or go back to Labor’s time and have a house worth $300,000 and be paying 17 per cent interest, I know what most people would say. They would say, ‘We would rather have a more greatly valued asset and we would rather be paying only 7.8 per cent, not Labor’s 17 per cent on our home loan.’ The point is this: people with a mortgage are far better off now than they were under Labor. Their asset prices are higher and their interest rates are far lower, 4.95 per cent lower, than the average throughout Labor’s years.

Let me make two other points. One point is this: people now have a much better chance of servicing their mortgage because they have job security, because they have a job. We just saw last week record low unemployment of 4.8 per cent, the best for 30 years. Compare that with when Mr Beazley, the Leader of the Opposition, was minister for employment in December 1992, when we had unemployment of 10.9 per cent and when we had almost one million people out of work. How could people then afford to service their mortgage? The point is that people now have a much better chance of servicing their mortgage.

We have heard this nonsense from the other side about bringing down a mini-budget, that a mini-budget is somehow needed to try to address this situation. Let me remind the opposition that, if we had a mini-budget anything like the budgets that we had during Labor’s time, we would be in a worse mess. In their last five years, they had budget deficits totalling $68 billion, budget deficits putting upward pressure on interest rates.

Compare that with the record of this government: nine surpluses in a row, significant surpluses putting downward pressure on interest rates. The contrast could not be clearer. Labor’s deceitful fiscal policy, Labor’s incompetent fiscal policy, was a policy for upward pressure on interest rates. They could not contain their own spending. By contrast, this government’s fiscal approach has been to reduce the pressure on interest rates, and that is one of the reasons interest rates are so low compared with what they were.

On any indication, with lower interest rates, lower inflation, lower unemployment, no government debt and faster wage rises, people under this government are far better off than they were in those 13 years of hard times under Labor. This motion is nothing but humbug and hypocrisy from the Leader of the Opposition. (Time expired)

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