Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for the interjection, Senator Cameron. It is typical of Labor governments that they simply cannot manage the economy. Last time Labor was in power there was a debt run up of some $96 billion—a huge amount—although I might say it pales into insignificance when compared with what the Rudd government has run up in two short, terrible years. You only have to look at Labor’s administration the last time they were in government. Not only did they run up a debt of $96 billion but they had unemployment over the double-digit figure. Inflation was well up around 11 per cent. Young people will not believe me—although I daresay in the not too distant future they will well understand—but I still remember paying 17 per cent interest on my housing loan.