Alex White (Labour)

In order to have any relevance, this House needs to debate the ESRI's recently published quarterly economic commentary. I support, and am happy to second, Senator Fitzgerald's amendment to the Order of Business to provide for such a debate. We are talking about the first recession in this country for 25 years. We are not talking about speculation but about a clear forecast of an increase in unemployment and emigration. Two significant aspects of the current situation emerge from the ESRI report. First, the current recession is almost entirely home-grown. That is the factual position as outlined by the authors of the ESRI report. The alibi, explanation or excuse — that it concerns external, overseas factors — that is sometimes given in this House is not true. Therefore, we must leave that aside because it has been proven to be incorrect.