Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I presume that is a question really about the level of interest rates, and we continue to assert very strongly, and will continue to assert very strongly, that the level of interest rates that is likely to prevail under a coalition government will always be lower than the level under a Labor government. The Australian people strongly supported that proposition at the last federal election, and it is not surprising, given that the Labor Party is the party that presided over a $96 billion build-up in debt and continuous government deficits. We are seeing that now with state Labor governments going into deficits, which put enormous pressure on interest rates because of the competition for funds.

It is Labor governments, and the former Labor government—and indeed in opposition—which so consistently advocate greater government spending. Whenever we have announced during our period in office any restraint in government spending, we have been roundly attacked by the Labor Party. After every budget we get attacked by the Labor Party for not having spent more than we are spending. They always propose to spend more money and therefore risk returning the government to a deficit position, therefore putting upward pressure on interest rates. The greatest threat to first homebuyers—and any homebuyer—in this country is the return of a Labor government—