Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I would hate see economic growth if it were collapsing! Perhaps the finance minister had the graph upside down, as the member for Watson helpfully points out. But redefining what is going on in the Australian economy does not fix what is going on in the Australian economy. There is one thing that would fix what is going on in the Australian economy, and that is a competent Treasurer of Australia. That is what would fix the Australian economy. That is what would see things improved. Remember we were promised an adrenaline rush to confidence on the election of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer? There has been a rush all right. There has been a rush when it comes to business and consumer confidence. When the government was elected, NAB business confidence was at 12. Today it is at zero. We see business confidence at zero. We see consumer confidence 10 per cent lower than it was at the election. We see this Treasurer's words and his actions impacting on business and consumer confidence. The finance minister likes graphs. Here we have consumer confidence and its impact from the budget. Of course, it started to decline when the Treasurer started talking.

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