Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Why does the Treasurer blame everyone and everything for his failings—the former government, COVID, war in Ukraine, global economy, financial instability and the RBA governor herself? Interest rates have come down in the UK, Canada and New Zealand, so why won't the Treasurer take responsibility for the weakest GDP growth outside the pandemic since Paul Keating's 1990s recession?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It was a broad question. The Treasurer has the call.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They couldn't even stick with the shadow Treasurer for one full question time—they had to go up the back.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left.

The member for Fadden will leave the chamber under 94(a). We are just going to take the temperature down. The Treasurer has the call.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A couple of things about that: first of all, the honourable member made the point about interest rates in other countries. A number of the other countries that those opposite cite have higher unemployment than us, they have higher interest rates than us and their inflation peaked higher and earlier than us, so if they want to make comparisons with other countries, make the full comparison. Do they want the much higher unemployment that we see in some of these countries that they cite—Canada and New Zealand and the like? They should be upfront about that when they ask these questions with international comparisons. We know they desperately want higher interest rates to serve their political purposes. We know that they desperately want a recession in this country to serve their political purposes. We know they won't come clean on the impact of their $315 billion in cuts.

I'm asked about taking responsibility. As I said a moment ago to the shadow Treasurer, before he was benched again, I take responsibility for our part in the fight against inflation, and in doing so I take responsibility in working with all these colleagues to deliver two surpluses that those opposite were incapable of delivering. I take responsibility for $80 billion in savings when those opposite had zero dollars in savings in their last budget. I take responsibility for banking almost all the upward revisions to revenue when those opposite used to fritter those upward revisions away. I take responsibility for the fact that the day that we arrived in office, inflation was 6.1 per cent and now it has a three in front of it. I take responsibility for maintaining this primary focus on the fight against inflation at the same time as we recognise—alone in this place—that people are already under pressure and growth in the economy is already soft and subdued.

And I say once again that, when it comes to responsible economic management, I will not be taking lectures from those opposite, who left us huge deficits. They left us a trillion dollars in Liberal debt, a budget full of waste and rorts and mismanagement. The same people who cheer for higher interest rates, the same people who want inflation to go up, the same people who would have us in recession right now if we had followed their advice, their time would be better spent coming clean to the Australian people about what their $315 billion in secret cuts means for Medicare, for pensions and for the economy.