Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Hansard source

The free market. The Chinese gave up communism and adopted the free market. Because they did, hundreds of millions of people have been rescued from poverty. It is probably the greatest thing the free market has done in the last 20 years. It has done great things in Australia and terrific things in much of Western Europe but particularly in the developing countries. And what has happened to those countries in Western Europe that did not adopt the dreaded neoliberalism? Countries like France have stagnated and have had 10 per cent unemployment for the last 25 years. The countries that have succeeded in the West have been the dreadful neoliberals that Mr Rudd now derides. We have never believed in untrammelled markets. That is why we have perhaps the best prudential regulations in the world. I heard what Senator Hurley said. That is not right. We have never said there should be no prudential regulations. In fact, as Ms Gillard said in Davos just the other day, we have the strongest and perhaps the best in the world.