Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was an interesting experience listening to the member for Casey. He trivialised, he derided, he abused, he insulted, but at no stage did he deliver any sound economic data or facts. It was all a joke for him, something to have a laugh about—and it was interesting watching the members of the opposition laugh along with him. For me, that shows that the economy and the management of our economy is a joke to the opposition; it is something you laugh about.

This MPI will demonstrate to the Australian people why the member for North Sydney—the shadow Treasurer—should never be Treasurer. It also demonstrates—and the contribution of the member for Casey also demonstrates—that the opposition should never sit on the government benches. It just does not understand economics, the economy and how to manage it. The opposition is an economic disaster zone, and it has at no stage demonstrated any fiscal credibility.

That is contrary to the government. The government has had some strong economic achievements, and the mid-year review shows that the Gillard government is on track to return the budget to surplus. I know it disappoints those in the opposition. They do not want the budget to return to surplus. But the fundamentals of the Australian economy are strong despite global turmoil. The opposition should be proud of the performance of our economy, but instead they like to talk it down, talk it down, talk it down. We have solid growth, low unemployment, strong investment and contained inflation—very strong economic indicators that I never hear opposition members talking about. It shows that our economy is one of the strongest economies in the world, and it is able to sustain and withstand all the economic pressures from overseas.

Delivering a surplus gives the Reserve Bank maximum room to cut interest rates. When I talk about interest rates I think back to the times when the Howard-Costello government sat on the government benches. I remember interest rate increase one, two, three, four—right up to 10—and members of the Howard junta arguing that the Howard government would always keep interest rates lower than a Labor government would. Those on the other side are probably hanging their heads and trying to shuffle away from that, because there have been six interest rate decreases under the Labor government.

See this speech in context