Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed, Deputy Speaker. Thank you. I don't need to use any particular words, because the Australian people can see right through this pathetic and cynical approach that the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Party are so desperate to pursue, because ultimately they know that, when the Labor government are delivering for the Australian people, working tirelessly to address these cost-of-living challenges and, indeed, maintaining a strong and robust economy now and into the future, their political fortunes are entirely tied to their ability to drive fear and division in our communities.

I want to talk about the matter that this debate is supposed to focus on: the Australian economy, keeping the Australian economy strong and robust, and ensuring that it delivers for working people all across our nation. We inherited an economy that the Liberal Party had trashed. They had inflation running above six per cent. They had racked up a trillion dollars of Liberal debt, and they had nothing to show for it; it hadn't been invested wisely in order to continue to serve the community and build the economic structures that were required for the future. They had racked up a trillion dollars of Liberal debt, ploughing it into niche, partisan political pursuits that in no way benefited either the taxpayers or the broader Australian community. Of course, what we know is that that mismanagement on their part began the process of interest rates rises that we then saw.

Our government has more than halved that inflation rate, and we have done what the Liberal Party could not do in their decade of government: we have delivered not just one but two budget surpluses that are contributing to the disinflationary environment that the Reserve Bank governor has explicitly referred to. The Australian economy is in a very strong and robust position. Households have been doing it tough, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and our government will continue to prosecute households' interests relentlessly. (Time expired)

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