Exactly eight years ago today, Malcolm Turnbull said $300 billion in gross debt was weighing down the country, but now it has reached $490.4 billion on his watch.

The first time he was the temporary leader of the Liberal Party, Mr Turnbull tried to scaremonger about a projected $300 billion figure with this running analogy:

“There should be no lead weights put in his pockets or heavy backpacks put on his back. And yet that is what the Government is delivering to us with these higher and higher levels of debt.”

(Malcolm Turnbull, National Press Club speech, 6 May 2009)

He went on to describe an “almost inconceivable level of debt”, claim the then-Government was “addicted to debt” and insist that “there must not be a penny more of debt than is absolutely necessary – not one penny more”.

Malcolm Turnbull was banging on then about the dangers of $300 billion in debt but we haven’t heard a peep from him about the debt and deficit blowouts he now presides over.

Gross debt is projected to crash through the half-a-trillion dollar mark in 86 days’ time with nothing to blame except for the incompetence of Mr Turnbull, Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann. 

Under the Liberals, gross debt has blown out by more than $210 billion; net debt has blown out by $100 billion for the current year; and the deficit for this year has more than tripled from $10.6 billion in their first Budget to $36.5 billion now.

At the same time, wages growth is at record lows, unemployment is at the same level as the peak of the Global Financial Crisis and more Australians than ever can’t get enough hours at work.

Despite all of this, Malcolm Turnbull wants to give big businesses and the banks a $50 billion tax cut.  No wonder Australia’s AAA credit rating is at risk.

The Liberals are better economic managers? Don’t think so.