Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are a number of key issues which are front and centre for any government and any country. Good economic management is one of them. There is now absolutely no doubt that this Gillard Labor government are very good economic managers and have done an excellent job in managing the Australian economy.

Anyone who is interested—and that should be everybody; every Australian should be interested—should take a little bit of time to look at the evidence, the hard data, the facts that are on the table. Australia now leads the world in every economic indicator of good economic management and of good government, be it debt to GDP, our national debt, home ownership, employment or unemployment, skills and education, the way healthcare is managed or our business conditions and the viability of business in Australia. You only have to look to the OECD. But do not stop there. I would encourage people to go much further than the OECD and look at every other economic indicator that is out in the market from every credible organisation. Have a look for yourself at just what is happening in this country. We are the lucky country. In fact, we have never been a luckier country.

You have to go back to the golden era of the 1950s to find comparable economic conditions, economic management, prosperity and potential, and all the other indicators that show that this is a great country. It is managed well and there is much evidence of that. Unemployment is at record to near record lows in tough economic times. Do not forget that you need to juxtapose how well Australia is running with what is happening not only in our own backyard, our region of the Asia-Pacific, but in every other country in the world. It would be hard—I would say impossible—to find any other country or economy that is doing as well as ours, on so many indicators. You could always find one indicator that might say that some other country is in front of us. But on so many indicators you would find none. In fact, it has been said many times by other economies, other governments and other treasurers that they would hack off an arm and a leg to have an economy as strong as the Australian economy.

Some people out in the community have been misled, though. If you listened to the opposition, you would think it was all doom and gloom and that you may as well close the shop, close the doors and sit at home waiting for doom and gloom. The opposition talk about only one thing—that is, potentially how bad everything could be, in the face of all the evidence that is quite clear.

Recently Australia, with its well-managed and disciplined fiscal strategy, was for the first time ever in its history, in tough conditions, awarded a AAA rating from all three global rating agencies. I think that says something not only about the Australian economy but about the Labor Gillard government and the way in which we manage the economy.

I want to make a comparison between the way the federal government is operating and the contribution from the Queensland government and the good work they have both been doing in not only very tough times but good economic conditions in Queensland. But there is a risk to that because on 24 March there will be an election in Queensland. The risk is that people will change government and potentially end that economic growth and development.

I want to talk briefly about Mr Campbell Newman, who is running to be the premier, if he is elected in the state seat that he is running for. We know his record: a tunnel that went broke, with every single investor—ordinary mums and dads—losing every single dollar that they put in. That was an enormous cost to individuals, as well as to the Brisbane city taxpayers. There is also a bike scheme which, as much as I am in support of that, is unfortunately being mismanaged. This failed scheme is actually costing ratepayers $38,000 a week. And, after seven weeks of the biggest floods in Queensland's history, we see a city council mayor get up and leave, pack his bags and say, 'I'm not interested in Brisbane anymore; I'm going to go and do something else.' But he has a record, particularly in the private sector. He also says he is in touch with the regions, because he had his time at Grainco.

Let us have a quick look at Grainco. What has Mr Newman done for the shareholders of Grainco? He has done a lot for them—mostly lose their money! His record of failure, from the time when he started at Grainco in 1997, has been that of a rapid decline. Shares went from 5c to zero, his claimed profits were just not substantiated, certainly not in company records, while crops were at their best in 10 years, and he made record losses. I am saying to the people of Queensland: on 24 March, when you consider how important your vote is, look at his track record and history— (Time expired)