Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by opposition senators today.

I'm going to start with a history lesson, and Senator Gallagher probably knows which history lesson I'm going to start with. It is the history of Medicare co-payments in this country. I want to take everyone back to 1991. Who was the Labor Party leader? Who was the Prime Minister? It was Bob Hawke. And what was happening to Bob Hawke in 1991? He was facing leadership pressures. And what did Bob Hawke, as Prime Minister, and his then health minister Brian Howe do, without consultation, in the 1991 federal budget? They announced a Medicare co-payment of $3.50 and a reduction of $3.50 in the rebate. So it lacks credibility for Labor senators to come into this place and try to suggest that it is only coalition members and senators who are interested in a sustainable health system.

Let me finish the story. What happened later in 1991? This is particularly important for the current Treasurer. What happened next? The Left and the Right and the ACTU ganged up on Bob Hawke, who, to be fair, was a very popular Australian Prime Minister, and guess what happened. A week before Christmas, Paul Keating became the Labor Prime Minister. I understand completely why Labor does not want to go back and hear about the horror story of its experience with Medicare co-payments.

This brings to an end the first week of Labor's second budget. What will be top of mind to many, many Australian families this weekend is just one word and the consequences of that one word, and that one word is 'inflation', the consequence of inflation being higher interest rates.

When Jim Chalmers attended the National Press Club yesterday he said he was 'supremely confident' that the budget would not add to inflation. They are very brave and courageous words by the Treasurer, no doubt. But we can't trust the Treasurer's supreme confidence that the budget will not drive up inflation, because just a year ago Anthony Albanese tried to tell Australians that life would be cheaper for them under Labor. Well, 12 months on, we know that is not true, as this country struggles with the very real challenge of higher inflation and rising interest rates.

We heard a little bit of commentary earlier in question time today about the remarks of Westpac Chief Economist Mr Bill Evans. Those remarks are important because Mr Evans is a trusted economist. Westpac is a significant banking institution in our country. I want to remind people of some observations Mr Evans made and why they have important implications for the budget and the analysis of the budget that will continue over coming weeks and indeed when we come back for Senate estimates. Mr Evans said:

Do I believe the rates relief I thought we would get—

that Australian families would get—

in February could be delayed? Yes.

Mr Evans is saying that he thinks rate relief and falling interest rates that people are expecting to happen in February next year are not going to happen, or the chance of them happening is significantly reduced as a result of the budget. What else did Mr Evans say? He also said:

The opportunity to cut rates as early as February starts to fade away—that's the one thing I'm worried about with regard to the budget.

He also said:

$20 billion going into the economy in the space of three years is what I would call big spending.

Those were Mr Evans's comments—not his only comments but, I think, some very pertinent comments when we think about the challenge that has now arisen as a result of the budget that was delivered on Tuesday night.

The budget will not be measured today, tomorrow, in two weeks' time or in three weeks' time but in a year's time, when we are still in this chamber. (Time expired)