Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I did listen to Senator Mason in silence. Let me refer to the commentary at the time when the world was slipping into recession. As I said, Australia did not have a recession. Let me refer you to commentary from none other than the so-called shadow Treasurer, Mr Hockey, who said there would be a million unemployed in Australia and that we would have double-digit, 10 per cent, unemployment. That is what he predicted in the middle of 2008. The well-known economic guru, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Abbott, predicted: 'If the rest of the world has a recession, you will not keep Australia out of recession.' I remember those two predictions—from Mr Hockey, that there would be a million unemployed in Australia if there was a world recession, and from Mr Abbott, that you could not keep Australia out of a recession if the rest of the world went into one. Well, the rest of the world went into a recession and Australia did not have a recession. Those two leading economic spokespeople for the opposition, Mr Hockey and Mr Abbott, were wrong. They predicted a recession in Australia and they predicted a million unemployed, and they were wrong. They were wrong because this Labor government took the correct actions to stimulate the economy.