Mr PERRETT (Moreton) (15:41): I'm happy to talk about the MPI on the government's longstanding failures on the economy. I thank my good friend the member for Rankin for bringing this into the chamber. I thought I'd start with a quote from the great economic genius from the Liberal Party, shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey, in 2013. This is back when interest rates were 2.5 per cent. I'm an English teacher, not a maths teacher, but I reckon that that was higher than 0.5 per cent. That is my understanding. This is what he said when asked by Leigh Sales about the Reserve Bank cutting rates: If anyone thinks that the Reserve Bank acted today because the economy is doing really well, and Labor's doing a terrific job running the economy, they'd be deluding themselves. Well, what do we see? What did we see the Reserve Bank do yesterday? They cut interest rates by 2.5 per cent, down to a new record, record, record, record low of 0.5 per cent. Half a per cent! Capital hasn't been this low since the Sumerians first set up a bank lending service. Capital could not be lower. Why do we see the Reserve Bank doing this? Well, Joe Hockey is like a stopped clock; he eventually gets something right. It's because there's something wrong with this economy. I know that there are headwinds. We know that the coronavirus is going to cause significant challenges for our economy. I know that because I talk to the businesses in my electorate. I'm sure the member for Rankin does that. Every good member talks to retailers. But there were problems in this economy long before anyone had heard of the coronavirus. We know that. When I had my meetings with community leaders, particularly those who work in the education sector or the migration sector, and even just walking around the shops, I knew that retail was in trouble. I know that families are saying they are doing it tough. Families are talking about child-care costs, saying that wages aren't keeping up and jobs are insecure. We see all those other indicators. I'm not talking down the economy, I'm just stating the facts. Business investment is going backwards. The member for Ryan is laughing about it. Business investment is going backwards. Go and talk to the people in your electorates. Mr Simmonds interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Llew O'Brien ): The member for Ryan will withdraw that unparliamentary comment. Mr PERRETT: We've seen three consecutive quarters, nine months, where business investment has gone backwards. Labour productivity is pretty much the No. 1 indicator for whether the engine of the economy is ticking over right. If you get a sound in the motor, where productivity isn't working, you know that there's something fundamentally wrong. We've seen it declining for a long time. Net debt has more than doubled, gross debt has risen to over half a trillion dollars and doubled under the Liberal and National parties. Let's not forget that. This is an economy of their making, as we settled into the seven wasted years now of a coalition government. I know the 'black summer' was difficult for Australians. We know that the coronavirus will add additional challenges for tourism in Queensland—or tourism all around Australia, I should say—and on the number of international education students coming here, who are such a boost for my electorate in particular. All of these challenges mean that we need a government to step up, and what do we have? The person who drives this—I've seen treasurers up close. I worked with Wayne Swan. I've seen what he's like as a human being. I understand why internationally recognised people say that Wayne Swan was cometh the hour, cometh the man. Cometh the hour, cometh the man! He stepped up and was able to work with the opposition at the time. I will stress that: the opposition leader at the time did work with the government for a while, in terms of recognising the dire straits. But what do we have? We have a guy who's focused on himself, happy to trot out Liberal Party merchandising—'back in black' mugs. Perhaps he should be working on 'lady in red' or something like that, because we've got these big challenges coming! They've failed all the tests that they've set themselves. We've got a Treasurer who stands up at that despatch box and attacks the Hindu community, going for a cheap laugh— Mr Gosling: What an idiot! The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Solomon will withdraw that unparliamentary comment. Mr Gosling: I withdraw. Mr PERRETT: So we have a Treasurer who's not up to it. He stands at the despatch box and goes for the cheap laugh. He seems to be focused on, obsessed with, the member for Rankin rather than doing his day job. He needs to change. We need a better Treasurer.