QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:19): There were a number of elements to that question. First of all, this government has delivered budgets which have meant that our debt trajectory is $200 billion lower than what we inherited from those opposite. That's the first point.
Mr Taylor interjecting— Dr CHALMERS: I hear the Leader of the Opposition, right on cue, in ways that I had hoped for, mention that there's a trillion dollars in debt in the budget. More than $600 billion of that trillion dollars was racked up by those opposite. More than 60 per cent of the debt in the budget that was racked up over the last 19 years was racked up in their nine years.
They doubled the debt, even before COVID-19. They've got a lot of nerve asking us about debt when most of the debt in the budget, overwhelmingly, was racked up by those opposite. When it comes to our responsible economic management—two surpluses, smaller deficits, banking upward revisions to revenue, a couple of hundred billion dollars' worth of savings.
I will compare that any day with the shameful record of those opposite. To make it worse, this leader of the opposition, when he was the shadow treasurer, went to the last election with a policy for bigger deficits and for more debt. Not having learned the lesson from that, they've now got more than $110 billion in extra unfunded commitments that they have made just this term.
So debt would be higher and deficits would be bigger under those opposite. The SPEAKER: I'm going to take a little bit of action before I hear from the manager. I said there were consequences for actions.
The member for Page and the member for Calwell were interjecting nonstop during that answer. As a result of your actions, you'll now leave the chamber under standing order 94(a). The member s for Page and Calwell then left the chamber.
The SPEAKER: Now we'll hear from the Manager of Opposition Business, on a point of order? Mr Tehan: It goes to relevance. The question had nothing about the opposition in it.
It was about the Treasurer's plan, which is driving up interest rates. The SPEAKER: Yes, and there were a few other things in the question as well as that. This is a broader question than normal.
If there's a broad question, there's going to be a fairly broad answer. The Treasurer wasn't asked about opposition policy. He has moved on to other topics, and I'll make sure that he remains relevant to the question.
Dr CHALMERS: I was explaining where the debt came from—overwhelmingly from the former government. Part of the shadow treasurer's question, uncharacteristically for him, is a really important question, which goes to global bond yields. As Shane Wright and others have picked up in the press gallery, this is something that the world is watching very closely.
The shadow treasurer, to give him his due, is right to point to the fact that global bond yields have been coming up. Similarly, the Treasury 10-year bond here in Australia has gone up. He's right to point that out and he's right to say that that is an issue of concern not just in Australia but right around the world.
We have seen bond yields pick up since the beginning of the war in Iran. They pick up again when the conflict escalates, and unfortunately the conflict has escalated just this week. The longer the war goes on, the more concerned people will be about that.
The war in Iran pushes up expectations for interest rates, which then pushes up yields. In fact, in every major advanced economy right now, the market is pricing in interest rate increases. Those opposite might want to blame me or the government for the war in Iran.
They can explain the role that I've played in starting that, but there is a concern about— (Time expired)