Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, would net debt of 50 to 60 per cent of GDP jeopardise the Australian government's AAA credit ratings?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course it would. That is why the credit rating was lost twice under Labor governments. Twice Labor governments lost the AAA. Twice Australia was downgraded under Labor. The only two times Australia has been downgraded in its credit rating has been under Labor governments—and both times it has been the coalition that has won back the AAA rating.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We absolutely won it back—damn right! I was there. I was in a government that claimed back the AAA rating for Australia. Hang on, the member for McMahon is pointing to Swanny. Is he your reference material?

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Madam Speaker: the Treasurer has used an incorrect title to refer to the member for Lilley. I ask that he use the correct title.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask the Treasurer to refer to members by their correct title.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am sorry; I should have called him 'the world's greatest Treasurer'! Your talent is wasted back there, Swanny. We all need binoculars to see where Swanny is these days, although there seems to be a bit of a glow about him. He has been under the lamp. Have you been under the lamp, Swanny?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Madame Speaker: it is the same one you ruled on a moment ago. He has done it again.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask the Treasurer to refer to members by their correct titles.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am going to let you in on a secret. I have to share a secret with the parliament. To assist the honourable member for Watson, I have heard recently about 'the Swan dream team'—the member for Lilley coming back and forming a partnership with the member for Watson and sidelining the member for McMahon. We have heard all about it. He is up the back there, waiting. We all know that his talents are wasted on the backbench.

The member for Lilley stood at this dispatch box on budget night—what year was it now? 2012?—and started with:

The four years of budget surpluses I announce tonight …

What a proud moment that must have been for the member for Lilley—he was only about $200 billion out! What happened? I will tell you what happened: Labor left a mess. They left a level of debt that was unsustainable for Australia's future. They left every single young Australian to be born in a decade's time with $25,000 of debt in their birthing suite.

We have come in and we have started to fix the mess. We have made significant strides. Whatever it is, we want to get rid of the net debt and we want to get Australia back to where it was.