Alan Ferguson (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Sterle, you have not been in this place long, but I am sure that you remember plenty of people in the trucking businesses that you were involved in who were also paying 24 per cent interest rates and for longer. They paid 24 per cent under a Labor Party—the very Labor Party that you belong to—and they lost their trucks. I did not hear you speaking too loudly back in those days about the Labor Party, with its high interest rate policy of up to 24 per cent.

The Labor Party ought not come in here and talk about loan sharks. The very people they did not protect when they were in government suffered the indignity of losing their businesses because of 24 per cent interest rates. So, Senator Carr, you can come in here and talk about those people who have lost faith in the government. Let me tell you this: the last time the Australian public were tested at the ballot box, they rejected the Labor Party in a way not seen for a long time. And you, Senator Carr, were one of Mr Latham’s great supporters and you supported his policies. You supported all of those things which drove the Labor Party to the worst defeat it has had for some time. If you try to tell us that the Australian population have lost faith in the Howard government, you have a very short memory, because the last time they were tested they rejected outright the Labor Party for the sorts of policies they were proposing, both economically and in a lot of other fields, such as bringing home troops immediately. When you come in here and start raising the issue of interest rates, remember your history—and the people of Australia will never forget your record—in relation to interest rates. (Time expired)