Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I'm happy to talk about the MPI on the government's longstanding failures on the economy. I thank my good friend the member for Rankin for bringing this into the chamber. I thought I'd start with a quote from the great economic genius from the Liberal Party, shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey, in 2013. This is back when interest rates were 2.5 per cent. I'm an English teacher, not a maths teacher, but I reckon that that was higher than 0.5 per cent. That is my understanding. This is what he said when asked by Leigh Sales about the Reserve Bank cutting rates:

If anyone thinks that the Reserve Bank acted today because the economy is doing really well, and Labor's doing a terrific job running the economy, they'd be deluding themselves.

Well, what do we see? What did we see the Reserve Bank do yesterday? They cut interest rates by 2.5 per cent, down to a new record, record, record, record low of 0.5 per cent. Half a per cent! Capital hasn't been this low since the Sumerians first set up a bank lending service. Capital could not be lower.

Why do we see the Reserve Bank doing this? Well, Joe Hockey is like a stopped clock; he eventually gets something right. It's because there's something wrong with this economy. I know that there are headwinds. We know that the coronavirus is going to cause significant challenges for our economy. I know that because I talk to the businesses in my electorate. I'm sure the member for Rankin does that. Every good member talks to retailers. But there were problems in this economy long before anyone had heard of the coronavirus. We know that. When I had my meetings with community leaders, particularly those who work in the education sector or the migration sector, and even just walking around the shops, I knew that retail was in trouble. I know that families are saying they are doing it tough. Families are talking about child-care costs, saying that wages aren't keeping up and jobs are insecure. We see all those other indicators. I'm not talking down the economy, I'm just stating the facts. Business investment is going backwards. The member for Ryan is laughing about it. Business investment is going backwards. Go and talk to the people in your electorates.

Mr Simmonds interjecting—

See this speech in context