Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. This budget begins an era of responsible economic management in Australia. The reason is that we have generated in this budget a surplus which is the second highest in a decade. It is also a significant budget in Australia’s recent economic history in terms of the surplus rendered. The reason that we delivered this sort of economic outcome was that we needed to take on the fight against inflation. That meant ensuring that when it came to our handling of government outlays we did not perpetuate the spendathon of those opposite. As we have seen in recent years, government expenditure has mounted and mounted. Instead, we had to send that back in reverse direction. Now we have landed at a point where government expenditure as a proportion of gross domestic product is lower than anything delivered by those opposite in their entire period in government.

Turning to the tax side, tax as a proportion of GDP has gone down as a consequence of this budget. That comes on the heels of our predecessors having run a series of tax outcomes for the Commonwealth which imposed larger and larger taxation burdens not just on families but also on businesses. All these measures were necessary to place downward pressure on inflation. When it comes to the alternative put by those opposite, their alternative as articulated by the shadow Treasurer is this: there is no economic case to cut government spending. That is the core characteristic of the economic strategy offered by those opposite. It is a recipe for economic disaster, because those who bear the inflationary burden are working families. We have acted responsibly for them in the fight against inflation and we have delivered at the same time a package of measures to support those working families under financial pressures, a package of which the government is proud.

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