Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It is a killer, I am afraid. The socialist member for Melbourne interjects: ‘That’s a killer.’ It is, and it kills you, old son, to hear that the Governor of the Reserve Bank in August of 2006 said that what had emerged as an issue was that the states had moved from surplus to deficit, and they now have plans to borrow $70 billion.

What is also a killer—a killer in the comedy stakes—is whenever you see the member for Lilley, Mr Swan, being interviewed on TV. It was one of those vintages with David Spears yesterday, on 6 August 2007. He was asked this question: ‘How does state borrowing not put upward pressure on interest rates?’ That is not a bad question, is it?

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