Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. It goes to the comments of the Reserve Bank governor and fiscal policy in the budget, a budget that has been handed down by the Treasurer not once but twice in the black—not mugs, just surpluses. Labor surpluses arose out of what we had, which were Liberal deficits. We turned a $78 billion deficit into a $22 billion surplus, following it up with another surplus, at the same time as inflation is almost half what it was when we inherited it. Those opposite always miss out the fact that interest rates started rising on their watch after they handed down the highest-inflation quarter, which was March 2022 of 2.1 per cent, and how did they respond to that? In their March budget handed down by the former member for Kooyong was a cash splash, and that stands in stark contrast to what we have done. And that is why—

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