Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Member for Kooyong, you are in an alternative reality. In fact there were moments there I thought he was channelling his inner comical Ali when he was telling us how good the economy was going. The economy was going so great the Reserve Bank Governor decided to give you an early Christmas present. He decided to give you a little shave off interest rates to kick the economy along, because it was going so great! It is unbelievable, Member for Kooyong—Assistant Treasurer Member for Kooyong—that you could believe the economy is going that well.

When the RBA appeared before the House of Representatives Economics Committee we asked them about this. Oil prices have fallen, fuel prices are falling, and the Australian dollar is falling in value relative to the US dollar. You would think that would supercharge the economy and be a great thing. It was not enough. Those two things, which would normally kick the economy along, were not enough. What did the Reserve Bank look at? They looked at the forecast of where the economy was going and decided to change their position and say that no longer would there be stability in rates—they had to cut it. They had to cut it because the economy is going nowhere fast. One of the biggest reasons for this is that there is a failure to invest. Business will not invest. They keep telling the RBA, 'We will not invest until we see consumer sentiment change.' What was the biggest hammer to consumer sentiment in the last 12 months?

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