Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why has business confidence in government policies collapsed since the election of the Rudd government?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note in one of the surveys released today about the state of confidence in general, particular reference is made to interest rates being too high. That is what it says. That is obviously a key factor here. On that score, I would draw the attention of honourable members opposite to the fact that interest rates did not start going up in November 2007. Interest rates went up 10 times under the member for Higgins. The member for Higgins delivered to this economy the second highest interest rates in the developed world and the highest inflation rate in 16 years.

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Costello interjecting

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am glad that he has come to life in the chamber as, slowly but surely, he moves his way from the back of the chamber to the front of the chamber—we think. The bottom line is: the cumulative effect of 10 interest rate rises has an effect on confidence. When you look more broadly at what is happening in the global economy, and you look at confidence levels in the global economy, in the US the most prominent measure of consumer confidence has fallen more than 50 per cent since the global turbulence began and it is around its lowest in 16 years. In the United Kingdom, consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in 16 years. In New Zealand, confidence has fallen to its lowest level in 17 years. When you look at all these factors combined, you see the impact of what is happening with the global financial crisis right across the developed economies of the world.

But here is the kicker for Australia—delivered by the member for Higgins when he was Treasurer. If you deliver a series of 10 interest rate rises in a row, it has an impact on confidence. That is what has happened. The key question is: what do you do about it? Do you bury your head in the sand or embark upon a course of action? We have embarked on a course of action anchored in a budget surplus of $22 billion, in a productivity reform agenda through a skills revolution, in dealing with infrastructure bottlenecks and in dealing with deregulation. This is a practical agenda of reform for the future, as opposed to the member for Higgins, who sits back, waiting for events to unfold, almost like a smiling predator—some said ‘assassin’; I would not go that far—almost bleakly anticipating the rollout of what happens across the global economy and forgetting the fact that, in the case of these domestic economic conditions, he is a principal contributor.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, because the Prime Minister was unable to answer the question about why business confidence collapsed under the Rudd government, I seek leave to table the chart from the Sensis business index.

Leave not granted.