Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I accept your admonishment; I should not react to the interjections. But those opposite continued even as late as yesterday, at the mention of the global financial situation, to break into peals of laughter. How embarrassed they look today when their new Leader of the Opposition, Mr Turnbull, described it:

We are presently facing, probably, the gravest economic crisis globally in any of our lifetimes.

That demonstrates how out of touch those in this chamber on the opposite side have been. The global financial crisis is buffeting confidence and share markets around the world and slowing the economy. Five of the world’s seven largest developed economies recorded zero or negative growth in the three months to June this year. Global stock markets have fallen by around 20 per cent since the turmoil began and consumer confidence in economies across the whole OECD has fallen to its lowest point in almost 30 years.

Recently the IMF First Deputy Managing Director, John Lipsky, had this to say:

The global economy is facing its most difficult situation in many years as we grapple with the financial crisis that erupted last August—

that is, August 2007. We continue to see the consequences of these developments which have their origin in the US subprime market. As has already been mentioned, overnight Lehman Brothers, formerly the fourth largest US investment bank, filed for bankruptcy in the US. It has also been announced that the Bank of America has agreed to buy Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage firm, and concerns have also been expressed for the financial health of AIG, the world’s largest insurer. The government has been briefed on developments by Treasury and the relevant regulators following yesterday’s quarterly meeting of the Council of Financial Regulators. The regulators are continuing to closely monitor events in the US and remain in close contact with their international counterparts. It is clear that we are not immune to these global difficulties. We are, however, better placed than most countries to weather the storm. The fundamentals of our economy remain strong. (Time expired)