Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Before the election, the Prime Minister promised Australians cheaper mortgages. Can the Prime Minister inform Australians how much the cash rate has increased since May 2021?

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. The member for Hume was heard in silence for his question. I call the Prime Minister.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll ask the Treasurer to answer the question, but we're not going to take lectures from the lightweight on the hill over there.

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Treasurer may resume his seat. Until the House comes to order, I won't hear the Manager of Opposition Business. I call the Manager of Opposition Business.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, that is clearly unparliamentary language, and he should be asked to withdraw.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I honestly could not hear what the Prime Minister was saying, because of the yelling in the chamber.

Honourable m embers interjecting—

Order! I'm going to call the Treasurer and I'm going to ask the House to come to order. There is far too much noise. I'm issuing a general warning for the entire House. I call the Treasurer.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With questions that bad, is it any wonder he hardly ever gets one in this place? Now, it might not have dawned on the shadow Treasurer, nor on the dregs of the former government which are arrayed before us, that—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I ask the Treasurer to resume his seat and I ask the Manager of Opposition Business to resume his seat. I will just ask the Treasurer not to use that language when referring to the former government, either as the former government or as former members of the government. I call the Treasurer.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Would 'leftovers' be parliamentary, Mr Speaker?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask the Treasurer to get on with his answer.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow Treasurer for a very rare and particularly bad question because, as everybody else in this House knows, interest rates started going up on their watch. For a range of reasons, interest rates started going up from the extraordinary lows that they were at—0.1 per cent—and they're currently at 2.85 per cent—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Barker will leave the chamber under standing order 94(a).

The member for Barker then left the chamber.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

as every member of this House knows, except perhaps the shadow Treasurer. If the shadow Treasurer had any credibility whatsoever, he would acknowledge, first of all, that rates started going up on the former government's watch. Secondly, he would say what members over there said when they started going up during the election, which was interest rates were not going to be at 0.1 per cent forever. So what we've done—and one of the reasons we're proud of the budget we handed down two weeks ago and the shadow Treasurer won't ask me any questions about the budget that was handed down two weeks ago—is we've made sure that we weren't making the inflation problem worse. In fact, we showed remarkable spending restraint, real spending growth was flat, we banked the upward revenue revisions and we invested in the supply chain issues which were pushing inflation up in our economy.

I was asked about interest rates.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hume will cease interjecting, or I won't call the Manager of Opposition Business. I ask him to state the point of order.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance, a very direct question: Australians were promised cheaper mortgages. That was your promise. What are you doing about it?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer is referring to interest rates, which in my understanding are linked to mortgages, so I call the Treasurer.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You're already far ahead of the shadow Treasurer, Mr Speaker, if you make that link and far ahead of the Manager of Opposition Business. The point that I'm making is that the budget we handed down two weeks ago was aimed fairly and squarely at this inflation challenge in our economy, which is pushing up interest rates. Inflation was a problem before the election. Interest rates were going up before the election. They have absolutely no credibility if they won't acknowledge that.