Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased once again to rise in this place and speak about a responsible and forward-looking coalition budget. Like the previous 10 budgets, it is responsible, delivers locally and builds nationally, so this morning I will be spending my time speaking again about the implications of this budget, not only at the national level but also at the community level in the electorate of Deakin.

The measures and priorities in this budget are an investment in Australia’s future. It is a dividend of years of hard work and tough decisions. The budget also comes at a time when we face many important challenges: the skilling of our workforce, climate change and infrastructure development. What we are looking at here is a period of unparalleled economic growth to secure economic prosperity well into the future, and this budget delivers in spades in those areas.

I am proud to have been part of major initiatives throughout this government’s term. On top of record investment into vital services such as health, education and the environment, this government has never sat on its laurels or lost sight of the need for ongoing reform in our economy. There has been vital tax reform, important structural changes to the health system and an emphasis on sustainability in preserving our precious water resources. Education is now set on a path of excellence, skilling future generations so they too can be part of a global village in the modern economy, and our ability to tackle climate change is moving forward in a positive and practical way.

The 2007 federal budget paints a clear picture of how far we have come as a nation in the past 10 years, and we need often to recall the last 10 years and just how far we have moved during this time, because there are many in the Australian community today who would not be aware of the dire circumstances this nation found itself in when we first came into power. In 1996, when the government was first elected, the focus was on dragging the economy out of the mire of the Keating era. All of us here remember those dark days very well and the $96 billion of government debt. I know a lot of people do not want these figures referred to, but we will. There was $96 billion of government debt, the $10 billion budget black hole, and, importantly and disgracefully, we saw unemployment sitting at over eight per cent, with many Australians unable to find employment and unable to have a wage which they could use to feed their families. This was a period in our nation’s history that required tough decisions to be made, decisions which would set the course for the longest and most stable period of economic expansion in our nation’s history.

What have we seen in the last 10 years? All government debt has now been paid back. Why is that important? If you pay back government debt—if you pay back debt of any kind—you have money that you can spend in other areas. In the case of the government, the interest savings alone of $8 billion can now be used in other vital—

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