Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:11): That's because it was timed out, Mr Speaker! I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for her question. It is quite an extraordinary question, the way it was put. It seems to ignore the fact that the Reserve Bank of Australia is an independent body, is the first point I would make—and you don't need an economics degree to know that. But apparently that's beyond the capacity of those opposite. The second thing that I will confirm is that the economy started growing under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, and it grew for 30 years. It grew even when the entire world went into a global financial crisis. The economy continued to grow. When did a recession come? Who was in government? When a recession comes, the Reserve Bank decreases interest rates in order to stimulate the economy. Honourable members interjecting— The SPEAKER: The Prime Minister will pause. Unless I can hear the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, I will not take her point of order. I give her the call on a point of order. Ms Ley: On relevance: can the Prime Minister count to 100? The SPEAKER: I have been more than tolerant with this abuse of standing orders. This is not the first time the deputy leader has done this. As much as I don't want to do this, she will leave the chamber under 94(a) for abuse of standing orders. The member for Farrer then left the chamber. Mr Watts interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Gellibrand will withdraw that comment. Mr Watts: I withdraw. The SPEAKER: When the House comes back to order the Prime Minister will be heard in silence, or further people will leave the chamber. Mr ALBANESE: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. When recessions occur as happened under the former government, what reserve banks and central banks around the world do is that they support the stimulation of the economy. Therefore, you have a reduction in interest rates. Then when there's global inflation, around the world central banks increase interest rates. That's what occurs. The level of debate that we are having here from those opposite is just extraordinary. I mean, this is the alternative government of Australia. The shadow Treasurer, who refuses to ask a question of the Treasurer—this is what he said, not before the election but on 28 September, in an opinion piece, so he wrote it down. He actually thought about it and submitted it to that great journal The Australian. He said: It is very clear that the world has changed dramatically even in the past few months … We've seen a rapid shift to an inflationary environment. Interest rates are bucking decades of downward trends. Those opposite show their economic illiteracy in here day after day. (Time expired) Mr Hogan interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Page will cease interjecting.