Ms MARINO (Forrest—Government Whip) (15:51): At the commencement, I have to say I was really disappointed to hear the very personal attacks by the member for McEwen, particularly on the member for Parkes. I am one of the few farmers in the place. I saw the disrespect and the sniggering at the member for Parkes. It was appalling. That unfortunately reflects the view that Labor have about rural and regional Australia and our farmers. As a farmer in this place I would put on record that I have enormous respect for every person who represents rural and regional Australia and for those who actually get out on the land and do the hard yards. As one of them, let me reassure you that on this side of the House we have enormous respect for what you do, and please, do not be offended by what you just heard. And as for the words 'chaos' and 'incompetence', they belong only in one place, and that is with Labor. It is a sick joke, this MPI, just a sick joke. When Australians sit back and look at where they are at and they see that we were heading to $667 billion worth of debt, they know where the responsibility lies, irrespective of what was said on the other side. We do have a very sound budget strategy, and we are working every single day to undo the damage of six years of Labor in charge of Treasury. And Labor is a repeat offender in the place of debt and deficit. I do not know if there is anyone on that side who is still here who was around 25 years ago when the last Labor surplus was delivered—a quarter of a century, and you have the absolute gall to come into this place and talk about economic management when you have not delivered a surplus anywhere near it in over a quarter of a century. If that is not an offence—25 years—it is just dreadful. Mr Mitchell: You haven't seen a dollar you wouldn't spend. Ms MARINO: The member for McEwen, after some of the comments you made I think it would be good if you did not make any further comments. I have really had enough of those sorts of comments directed to individuals and particularly those who represent farmers and rural communities. Ms Butler: Take it up with Costello; he's the one who said it. Ms MARINO: And as we know, member for Griffith, this is a historic effort by you. John Howard inherited a deficit of $14 billion and a net debt of $83 billion when he came into government in 1996. Eleven years of coalition budget control turned this nation's budget position around completely and got Australia's finances back on track, so much so that the next, Labor, Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, inherited a surplus of $19.8 billion and net assets of $29 billion. And what did Labor do with that wonderful financial position? Opposition members interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Broadbent ): Order! It is one thing to have robust discussion, which I am very keen on, but to badger the other side is inappropriate. Ms MARINO: What we saw was $191 billion worth of cumulative deficits, with a further $123 billion ahead. And let's just talk about the $14 billion worth of interest each year that we now look at. That is $1.167 billion a month, $269 million per week, $38 million a day and $1.6 million an hour, and in my five minutes that is $133,000 we are borrowing to pay Labor's interest. That is exactly what we are doing. In my five minutes, for those Australians who are watching, we have to borrow from overseas $133,000 to pay for Labor's debt and deficit. There is never a better reason for us to live within our means than that one. And I would say to members opposite, when they talk about debt and deficit, that their record is so poor and will go down in infamy in the history of this nation. I would say to them as well that thanks to Labor spending over $100 million more a day than what we collect is $40 billion a year more than we are actually taking in. (Time expired)