Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I do not think it was a question. I think Senator Feeney said the OECD was very astute in saying that the Howard government’s management of the economy was world class, and I agree with him on that. Who would have thought that in a couple of years we would go from a $20 billion surplus, provided for by Peter Costello and John Howard, to a $188 billion deficit?

All of us on this side could speak for hours on the problems that lie ahead because of the way the Labor government mismanage money. I know there are many of my colleagues who want to continue this debate, so I will stop at this time. I simply say that people are now being reminded about, and coming to understand, Labor. They have known all along about state Labor governments, all of which are running into debt. Incredibly, the Queensland government is $76 million in deficit, which is almost what Whitlam ran up in four or five years. The people of Australia, particularly younger people who were not around in the Hawke-Keating days, are now seeing what Labor administration at the federal government level means. It means huge debt, fewer services and an interest bill that we, our children and our grandchildren will all have to pay off in the in the years ahead.