It’s exactly eight years to the day since Malcolm Turnbull described $300 billion in projected gross debt as “gigantic” – a stark contrast to his silence over the $489.4 billion in actual debt his own Government currently presides over.

The first time he was temporary leader of the Liberal Party, Mr Turnbull claimed:

“…the Government will run up a gigantic debt – they’re now talking about $300 billion of Commonwealth Government debt.”

(Malcolm Turnbull interview with Peter Perrin on Territory FM 104.1, 24 April 2009)

While Mr Turnbull was content to scaremonger about projected debt then, there’s not a peep from him now about the soaring levels of actual debt on his watch.

On current projections outlined during Senate Estimates, gross debt will crash through the half-a-trillion dollar mark in 98 days’ time because of the incompetence of Mr Turnbull, Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann.

If the Prime Minister considered projected debt then to be “gigantic”, he must be struggling to find superlatives to describe actual debt closing in on $500 billion.

Under the Liberals, gross debt has blown out by more than $209 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.

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