Peter Dutton appears with bold new look

Peter Dutton has appeared in parliament sporting a bold new look, as he interrogated Anthony Albanese over cash rate hikes.

Peter Dutton has appeared in Parliament sporting a bold new look as he interrogated Anthony Albanese over the quick succession of cash rate hikes.

The Opposition Leader appeared at Question Time on Tuesday, having donned a pair of black, thick-rimmed Harry Potter-esque reading glasses.

Perhaps emboldened by his new frames, Mr Dutton launched into an attack on the Prime Minister — just hours after Reserve Bank boss Philip Lowe was forced to defend himself amid laughter for hiking interest rates more dramatically than ever before.

Mr Dutton seemed to suggest that interest rate rises were the fault of historic Labor governments, rather than the symptoms of a varying economic climate.

Mr Dutton appeared in Question Time sporting a bold new look. Picture: ABC News

“Interest rate rises are always higher under Labor,” he said.

“Under this Prime Minister there have been eight rate rises in eight consecutive meetings of the Reserve Bank of Australia board. When will the Prime Minister announce a plan to deal with the rising inflation problem in this country which is fuelling higher interest rates? Why do Australian families always pay more under Labor?”

Mr Albanese hit back, pressing the newly accessorised Dutton on his own economic credentials.

“I’m asked a very broad-ranging question by the Leader of the Opposition about the history of the interest rate,” Mr Albanese replied.

“I can inform the Leader of the Opposition that I have done a bit of research about the history of interest rates.

“I remember back in 2004 when the Howard government slogan at the election was, ‘Keeping interest rates low.’ I remember that. I remember that well.”

The reading glasses may have replaced a previous look, Mr Dutton’s tinted aviator sunnies. Picture: Department of Home Affairs

Mr Albanese then launched into an account of the Coalition’s mid-2000s economic management — suggesting that his opponent was personally at fault.

“Then, of course, they made the fatal mistake of appointing the member opposite as the assistant treasurer in 2006,” he said.

“Now, at that time, the cash rate was 5.5 per cent when he was appointed. But then the Reserve Bank met May 3, 2006, up 0.25 per cent. August 2, 2006, up 0.25 per cent. November 8, 2006, you guessed it, up 0.25 per cent. August 8, 2007, do you think it went up or down? Hands up, who thinks it went up? Hands up, who thinks it went down? You’re right!”

Mr Albanese performed this charade several more times, before finishing by saying that, at the end of Mr Dutton’s tenure as assistant treasurer, the cash rate was 6.75 per cent — about double today’s rate of 3.35.

Originally published as Peter Dutton appears with bold new look