Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, may I congratulate you, Madam Deputy Speaker Vale, on the new position you currently hold. It is clear that rising interest rates under the Labor government is a matter which is of great concern to most homeowners and homebuyers right throughout the country. The former government reduced interest rates very substantially. One thing you can always be certain about is that when Liberal and National parties are in government interest rates will be much lower than they would be under a Labor government. We have a transparent system where the Reserve Bank sets interest rates, but over many years when we were in government we had the situation where interest rates were much lower than they would have been under Labor. In recent times, interest rates have gone up a little but, having said that, interest rates are still much lower than they were historically under previous Labor governments. As a government, we were able to bring about a situation where more and more Australians have been able to achieve the Australian dream of homeownership.

It is somewhat concerning to me that our economic record is being demonised by those opposite. There is the suggestion that, despite the fact that we provided 11 years of sound economic management, we were not cognisant of the dangers of inflation. There seems to be a suggestion that the previous government, as it was prior to 24 November last year, was spending irresponsibly and not taking into account the future needs of the Australian people. Let us face it, when we came to government we inherited a government debt of $90 billion. Over 11 years, we repaid all of that debt and got to a situation where the government and therefore the nation was debt free. That meant that we were able to spend money on desirable social outcomes. Of course, the very best way of achieving desirable social outcomes is by having sound economic growth and a well-run economy. We were only able to do that by making difficult decisions, by dotting i’s and crossing t’s. The funding announcements that we were able to make prior to the election were, in effect, the dividends from the sound economic management over the last 11 years.

The new government has inherited a budget surplus of anywhere up to $30 billion. That hardly indicates that the former government followed the mistakes made by the Keating, Hawke and Whitlam governments. Those governments spent in order to create an artificial sense of prosperity and, in doing so, mortgaged the future of our children and grandchildren in the pursuit of this artificial prosperity. I am very proud to have been part of a party that supported the previous government over the last 11 years. The previous government has a sound economic record, and we created a proud nation. Right around the world, we are regarded as a nation which is greatly respected, a nation which has been a good international citizen and a nation which has been prepared to stand up and be counted and make some difficult decisions, particularly in the international interest. In this regard, I particularly refer to the Asian currency crisis, where we took a lead role and quarantined the economies in Asia from the worst aspects of that crisis. In doing so, we helped them to rebuild and also to, shall we say, reinforce the fact that we are a good international citizen and that we want to play our part in this part of the world.

Having said that, there is no doubt that many homeowners and homebuyers are feeling the pinch because every time the interest rates go up there is a drain on the pocket and another strain on the household income. But I do not think it is right to say that the former government was responsible for the interest rate rises which have occurred. One has a situation where interest rates go up and come down, but through sound economic management we were able to see very much lower interest rates than before, whereas the new government stands condemned—

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