Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Leader of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to take this opportunity to speak on the motion before the House moved by the member for Lindsay on interest rates. Before I begin the central elements of my contribution, I would like to refer to a number of statements made by the previous speaker, the member for Blaxland. He referred to benchmarking and was somehow attempting to compare the Australian economy to that of Zimbabwe. It is interesting to refer to the words of the member for Fraser from the early nineties. I cannot remember his words exactly, but he was actually comparing this economy to those of Mali, Peru and Bangladesh. We do not compare ourselves with Mali, Peru and Bangladesh anymore, but they were the comparisons being drawn under the previous Labor government. I also refer to the issue raised in relation to high mortgages. The member for Blaxland did not mention the huge state imposts that are put upon home buyers in Western Sydney, the huge costs that are imposed by the New South Wales and other state governments. He was silent on this point. I see him leaving the chamber. He has lost interest because he does not want to hear the truth. He does not want to hear the fact that state Labor is driving up the cost of housing. He has turned around; he has turned tail. He did not want to hear the fact that state Labor is driving up the cost of housing.

Let me continue with my contribution. There is very much an issue of confidence out there in the Australian economy, and confidence is an important element in any market. It is the very foundation for strong economics within those markets; it is the very foundation of an orderly market as opposed to a market that is out of control. What we see appearing in the Australian market—and in the Australian economy, for that matter—is a crisis of confidence in the Treasurer. The people do not believe that the Treasurer has what it takes to run a $1.1 trillion economy. The Treasurer comes into this House and seems to be in a hell of a muddle over what NAIRU is. He seems to think it is the Pacific solution. He referred to a whole range of things and said, ‘Well, sometimes I have the answers and sometimes I don’t; sometimes I’ll be able to give this House the answers and sometimes I won’t.’ The Treasurer, who is responsible for a $1.1 trillion economy, is uncertain of the concept of NAIRU and certainly out of his depth. He has moved from brown-paper-bag-onomics to trying to run a $1.1 trillion economy and he has come up short. And the people of Australia are seeing that. They are nervous. Confidence is faltering and falling. People need to have the confidence to invest; they need to have the confidence to purchase. But, under this Treasurer, we see a fall in confidence. People do not have confidence in him to run the economy. I was reading in the Herald Sun today an article by Steve Lewis. What was said of the Treasurer in that? It said:

Voters rated Swan as ‘dishonest’ and ‘slimy’ with an ‘untrustworthy character’.

That was in the paper today: ‘dishonest’ and ‘slimy’ and an ‘untrustworthy character’. That has to have an effect on confidence.

There is a great irony with the Australian Labor Party. They opposed every measure that the previous government took to bring the budget into surplus, they opposed every measure to implement solid economic policy and they opposed tax reform; yet, at the end of the day, they claim to be fiscal conservatives. They opposed every measure that was put in place. I find it very ironic that members opposite can come into this House and claim the mantle of fiscal conservatism when, during their time on the opposition benches, they did not assist the government of the day with the passage of those bills; they voted against them. All of the previous members are on the record as voting against the GST. We all remember the words ‘day of fundamental injustice’ from the now Prime Minister. (Time expired)

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