Senator Joyce said today that interest rates may go up but it is quite apparent that Labor’s primary document to deal with a rise is the Coalition’s document, with a tax deduction for a computer tacked onto the end.

“Economic management will be well and truly tested in the coming years, not so much by interest rates, but by a possible US recession. This is the issue which needs to be addressed and if you have not packed good economic management into your nation’s parachute then, unfortunately, you will bounce.

“How do you determine the capacity of a party’s economic management? By a track record of growth as well as their ability to lay down a stringent document for the future. A party that does no more than copy the Coalition’s homework, and calls it theirs, is not really giving us much confidence they know what to do next.

“At the peak of Labor's last attempt at Australian financial management the average short term interest rate in Australia was 17.6% whilst the rate in the US was 9.3%, so the management factor was a difference of 8.3%. The resultant overdraft rate for many small businesses was in the 20% range. Today the rate in Australia is 6.5% and the US 4.75%, a difference of only 1.75%, an indication of the Coalition's superior economic management.

“In dealing with the vagaries of managing the ad hoc nature of a recession, unfortunately, the Labor Party’s front bench does not have one person who has ever been in business for themselves. Being in small business and dealing with your own money is very good training for how you should manage other people’s money and deal with the dilemmas of stress that a recession will, unfortunately, bring about.

“It may be unfair to pre judge Labor but, when we look at the results in the states around the nation, especially here in Queensland, the economic track record just goes from bad to worse. For instance, after all bills are paid for the Traveston Dam, desalination plants and the Western Pipeline Corridor in Queensland, and despite the record royalties from coal, stamp duty from a booming housing market, rivers of cash flowing into the state from GST, Queensland will be $51.7 billion dollars in debt by 2011 (Queensland State Budget 2007-08, Budget Paper No.2). Why this is pertinent; this is the same state and party where a proposed new treasurer will come from.” Senator Joyce said.