Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

In speaking on these appropriation and budget bills, I would like to address some issues of national economic policy, some of the measures within the recently brought down budget and some of the programs that are now possible and are operating at a national level. Of course, I also want to draw on how those programs are operating in and benefiting my local electorate of Casey, in outer suburban Melbourne—covering the outer suburbs from Croydon through the Yarra Valley and into the Dandenong Ranges.

The budget provides a window into the government’s level of financial responsibility, its economic management and the opportunities that that provides. It is useful in a budget debate such as this to look at where the nation’s finances have come from and where they are today and also to look at the opportunities that are provided today and where the opportunities will be in the future. I think it is instructive to look back on where the federal budget has come from because it is of enormous relevance. At the end of the day, a budget provides opportunities on the ground in each and every one of our electorates. It is not a remote thing spoken about here in Canberra; it affects people’s lives, families, small businesses and the job opportunities on the ground in the electorates we represent. When you look back on the budgets of 11, 12 and 13 years ago, it is a vastly different financial story. The budgets that are handed down today, and this budget was no exception, have surpluses. Net government debt has been paid off.

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